The Reasons We Fight Pt 2
by Niko Kurosaka
Summary: Takes place where Part 1 left off so read that first!
1. Battle Plans and Emotion Scars

**Chapter 1**

**Battle Plans and Emotion scars**

Upon walking into the base, Niko walks up to the Director and told him everything that happened to him, from being arrested by the G.U.N. to escaping and finding out that his own father and Platinum were trying to capture him and suppress his powers by isolating him. After telling his tale he looked at the Director.

"So that's my story." Niko said. "And I'd seriously appreciate it if you didn't smoke right now, because I can now see where Sapphire, who I love to pieces, gets her habit to smoke."

"Huh?" Niko said confused. "You did?"

Without looking back at Niko, the Director nodded. "I know everything that goes on in this galaxy, boy. Your little incident was no exception." He rested his cigarette on the ash tray that sat nearby on his desk.

"Niko, I advise you try to stay out of trouble, and you should not go digging places where you have not been asked to do so," the Director added. "People can get hurt that way. You of all people should know that. You are now dismissed."

Niko wasn't exactly about to let somebody order him around but he knew The Director was right. His actions were getting people hurt. He was snooping around in places he had zero business being in and due to this, he has almost gotten Sapphire and others killed. He nodded and left. Upon leaving the base and getting home he looked at his phone and saw that Caramel had called. He decided he needed someone to talk to so he called her back.

"Niko?" Caramel said sleepily. "What's up?"

"Nothin' much." Niko replied. "Sorry to wake you. I just got back from somewhere and didn't notice the time. Listen how soon can you meet me at the spot you and I first met?"

"Uh..." Caramel said thinking. "In about a few hours. Why?"

"There's something I need to tell you." Niko said "Something about what I've been doing that I feel you should know."

"Okay." Caramel said. She knew this wasn't like Niko but if he felt she needed to hear whatever he had to say, the only plausible option would be to hear him out.

Back at the Insurgent base, Sapphire walked around and stretched out her arms, heading towards the Leaderboard to see if there had been any recent changes with all of the commotion. The Leaderboard was exactly what it sounded like. It ranked the top eight Insurgents, and it made competition fierce amongst the group. It was what made Silver the grumpy, headstrong woman she was. She was once upon a time just quiet and distant (Albeit angry), but when the Leaderboard showed up, she expressed her feelings way more openly.

As she approached the meeting room (Which was one of the only places you could look at it from), her eyes were wide and furious. She had gotten a glimpse of the board from a distance, and was not happy to see her spot as number one had been given to Garnet. How the hell did that happen? Was it because of her absence? That was the Director's fault! He told her to take some time off, even though she didn't want to. She thought she had been doing well, but apparent, she needed to do better. She stomped off to go train into the late hours of the night, deciding she'd check on the information Platinum had given her in the morning or something. She needed to get that spot back.

After explaining everything to Caramel, Niko looked at his friend and saw her face of shock. 

"I figured you'd react that way." Niko said laughing. "But it's all true." 

"I believe you Niko," She replied, breaking herself out of her shock. "I really do, but what I'm concerned about is why Tails would be trying to kill you. I thought he was your dad. 

"He is." Niko sighed. "But I can't figure out why he'd wanna isolate me and remove my powers. Where's the point in it all?" 

As Niko's talking, he sees Sapphire and beckons her over. 

"Hey, Sapph!" Niko called. "Come take a break from regaining your spot and eat some ice cream!"

Sapphire shook her head as she picked up her pace to get to the training room. "Sorry, Niko. Like I said earlier, I have bigger things to worry about than ice cream. I'm busy after training too, so have fun with whatever you decide to do."

As she entered the training room, Sapphire's armor suddenly felt heavy, but it went light quickly. She always felt sluggish entering the training room again, like she wasn't good enough, and that's why she had to train. No matter, she walked to the middle of the room. "P.H.I.L.S., activate training simulator one," she ordered.

"As you wish, Agent Sapphire," the AI replied, and two rows of green circles started moving around Sapphire.

"Why isn't Sapphire coming?" Caramel asked.

"She lost her spot on the Leaderboard so she wants to train her ass off to get it back" Niko explained, licking his Strawberry ice pop.

"Hey!" Caramel said getting an idea. "Why don't you try helping her out? I'm sure the Director won't mind."

"You know?" Niko said after mulling the idea over. "That _would_ be a good idea. I'll see if the Director's cool with that!"

**Caramel and her awesome ideas huh? Well let's see if the Director will take that idea. If he refuses, we all know Niko's gonna do it anyways, right? Tune it next chapter! Make sure to R&R!**


	2. Helping a Friend

**Chapter 2**

**Helping a friend**

Sapphire raised her fists and focused on the green circles, waiting for P.H.I.L.S. to give her the signal to start. She took a deep breath and toggled back and forth on her feet.

"You may begin," the AI spoke, and Sapphire went to town. She threw her fists out, and as they met the green circles, they turned red. She threw her feet up and used some kicks to the get the circles on the bottom row, while her fists took care of the top.

"Any improvement?" Sapphire asked once all of the circles were red.

"I'm afraid not, Agent Sapphire," the AI replied, "your time was the exact same as it was the last time you did this exercise: 1 minute and 3 seconds."

"Not good enough," Sapphire muttered to herself. "Restart the simulation."

Meanwhile, the Director sat in his office, monitoring Sapphire's progress. He liked to watch his Insurgents train in private, see how much better they are getting. He took a drag of his new cigarette and let out a quick breath.

"Councilor," he told his assistant, who came running to his side. "Go and send a message to Garnet and see if he will assist Agent Sapphire. She needs the help." The Councilor nodded, but before he headed off, he dropped off a message.

"Sir, you have an entry request," he told his boss, and the Director rolled his eyes.

"From who and why?" he asked, putting down his cigarette, his eyes not leaving the screen he was watching.

"Agent Sapphire's love interest. I am guessing he's here for her."

The Director mentally groaned. That boy got on his nerves. "Bring him in, but do not let him stay for long."

"Director?" Niko began. "I know I'm not an Insurgent, but I wish to assist Sapphire in her training. She's really proud of her position at number one but when Garnet took it she went to town training by herself, no breaks whatsoever. While I myself train endlessly, I had been doing that for the last Chaos knows how many years and I always saw Sapphire, before all this, as a way to escape training and to have fun. You can't get on top by training so much you faint from exhaustion…and will you stop smoking for a second?"

Niko, having had a cigarette once before and hating the taste it left in his mouth and the scent it left on his clothes, had always hated smoking. What is more is that he really hated it when people smoke whilst he was talking to them. Niko calmed down a bit, getting agitated by the Director smoking while he was talking and continued.

"As I was saying," He continued. "You can't just train and train if you wanna get on top. You must know when to have some while you're training. Find something in everyday life outside the agency as a training tool. For me, it was the board game Operation. I trained myself to play using my Psychokinesis, and I got better by playing by myself or with my little brother Skye. I also went to the arcade and played all the games that would help with my combat prowess, like Dance Dance Revolution for my agility, Time Crisis for my aiming skill with firearms, and the bumper cars for my driving skills. You must be able to train and have fun doing it. What I'm trying to ask is can I take Sapphire out to the arcade for a little fun and training?"

The Director raised an eyebrow as he lit a new cigarette with his cyan and black lighter. He took a drag and turned back to his window. "Niko, Sapphire enjoys her training," he replied firstly. "To her, it's like a game. You, especially being one of her closest...friends, should know that." He turned around to face Niko then, face carefully guarded by shadows. "Even if I would let you, she would most likely refuse." He took another drag.

"I can, however, permit you to go train with her and Garnet here," he added, keeping his posture well. "She's a serious person, boy. If she wants to train to get her spot back, she's going to do it the right way."

"You know what my name means in Japanese?" Niko asked. "It means smile. When I see her train, I see that, but beneath the facial smiling, I don't see her happiness. I respect your way of doing things, I really do, but maybe a change in scenery would do Sapphire some justice in my honest opinion. As much as I can understand her refusal, I feel like there has got to be a way to help her train without wanting to have some sort of position back, that shouldn't matter. I wanted to see my real mother again, so I trained and trained until I knew I was ready!"

Niko decided that this wasn't getting him anywhere and went to the training room to ask Sapphire himself.

This boy and his foolish ways of thinking were going to get someone killed. Sapphire would never get her spot back if she went to an arcade, and the Director knew that she knew that. "Training simulator seven," he called after Niko as he put his cigarette out and clasped his hands behind his back. He too left his office and started towards the viewing bay, a large window that overlooked the training room.

As Niko approached the training room's immediate entrance, a female AI, P.H.I.L.S., stopped him. "To verify personal, please place a bare hand onto the scanner," the AI spoke, repeating her automated message. As she did, the scanner by the door blinked.

"Oh well," Niko said as he did so and the simulation began. Niko looked around at the target and smirked.

"Child's play." He said destroy the targets and ending the simulation earlier than even Garnet expected. "How's that?"

"New record," The AI said. "48.5 seconds."

Niko walked up to Sapphire. "Hey Sapph. I know you're busy and all with your training, but you mind coming with me, there's something I want to show you. I'll give you a hint; it's something that'll help you get your spot back!"

Sapphire gritted her teeth. "Niko, I'm really not in the mood, especially since you just barged in and showed off." She shook her head, "Garnet, go get the plasma staffs," she ordered, and Garnet started for the corner of the room. "P.H.I.L.S., activate standard battle," Sapphire ordered, and a screen in the corner of the room came to life.

"Who are the combatants?" the AI asked thoughtfully as Sapphire caught the plasma staff thrown her way.

"Garnet and I," she replied, and their armored faces flashed on the screen.

"Begin when you are ready, Agents Sapphire and Garnet."

Sapphire stepped up, and looked over her shoulder at Niko. "Now, if you don't have any more showing off to do, or if you're done trying to drag me away from training, I'm going to do what's best for me." She yawned behind her armor, wondering how late it was.

Niko sighed and left.

"She's really dedicated to getting that spot back." Niko said to himself.

"That's right, Niko." said a soft voice. "She's as stubborn as I am."

Niko looked around to see a woman looking at him.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"I'm not really here, or alive, but I'm Allison."


	3. The Demons We Hide

**Chapter 3**

**The Demons we hide**

Allison seemed completely transparent, but she was there. She was obviously wavering though, half of her body flashing like pixels. She had her blonde hair tied back, and she was wearing standard military clothing, all from the boots, to the hat, to the bulletproof vest,

"I can't sustain this mass of form long, but I wanted to meet you," Allison told Niko, hands clasped behind her back. "I'm only an AI, and I'm not all the way here."

Allison shook her head, making the pixelized part of her body flash even more. "There's no convincing her, you know. She'll never change." She wishes she could tell Niko the whole story of what was really going on behind the scenes of the Insurgents, why she was there. The distance from the AI separating lab to where Niko was short, and the max distance, she could travel without being assigned an Insurgent. Like she ever would.

"Take care of her, ok?" she asked, cocking her head to the side slightly. "Keep her out of trouble. Be patient with her." She looked down. "I wish I had more time to talk, I wish I had more time to tell you more, but I can't. Just...Tell Sapphire that memory is key for me." She did not even ask, and her voice sounded even more hard and stiff than it had before, which was saying something. "Tell her to check the dog tags after she's done."

"Her dog tags?" Niko asked as Allison started to disappear. "Wait I gotta ask you a question! I know some of my powers are natural, but why did I get some of yours?"

Allison shook her head, and the pixels kept going nuts. Her voice grew choppy, too. "I am but an AI," she told Niko, mouth twitching, "I don't know everything there is to know."

"JUST deliver my messages," she ordered, "I need you to." And with that, Allison dissolved into a mess of pixels.

Niko sees Sapphire behind him, looks at her, and explains everything Allison told him.

"Well that's all she told me." Niko said. "What do you think she meant?

"Memory is the key..." Sapphire muttered to herself as Garnet showed up by her side. She looked down, and when it finally hit her, she flicked her head up.

"I've gotta go, be right back, Garnet, Niko," she muttered, leaving no explanation. She then dashed off into the crowd of Insurgents nearby, destination unknown.

"Where do you think she went, Garnet?" Niko asked.

Garnet just shrugged. He hated Niko to no end for getting in the Insurgents affairs and getting other agents, especially Sapphire, in danger. When this was over, he knew he would never see Niko again, at that time he would be at peace. Just then, Sapphire comes back with a pair of dog tags that did not seem to belong to her, but to Allison.

"Sapph?" Niko asked. "What are those dog tags for?"

Leave it to Niko to ask the obvious. Garnet thought.


	4. Memory is Key

**Chapter 4**

**Memory is Key**

"No time to time to talk," Sapphire muttered as she passed by Garnet and Niko, mumbling other things to herself. Allison must have known about the Hesitance's uprising, so no wonder her and Platinum were having the same ideas.

And how did she not realize that 'memory is the key' before? It was so obvious! She shook her head and she picked up her pace to hurry to the data stations.

Garnet shook his head and sighed as Sapphire dashed off again. "And there she goes." He decided to do a little more training, so he left Niko to his own devices and walked back into the training room.

Niko followed her and saw her at one of the data stations. He walked up carefully.

"Sapphire?" Niko asked. "What's that? And what exactly did Allison mean?"

Niko knew Sapphire just figured it all out, but he was still in the cold. He was in this situation as much as she was. Plus, he knew, once this was all over, he would probably kept from seeing Sapphire again.

Sapphire rested her hands on either sides of one of the keyboards, her head down. She let out a sigh as she used one hand to tear both her own and Platinum's dog tags off her neck. She laid them down next to Allison's and took in a deep breath.

"Niko... the Insurgents, and this whole thing, has always been my fight. I've been here when this thing started, and I'm going to be there when this thing possibly all comes crashing down." She tilted her head slightly, but she did not look at Niko. "I need to figure this out on my own. I have been caught in this web since day one, and I deserve answers more than anyone does. I wish I could explain, but I need to do this alone."

"I have some of Allison's power too, you know?" Niko responded. "So this is my fight just as much as it is yours. Plus, I want to know why I even have some of her powers. I love you Sapphire, in case you forgot, and my love for you tells me we are both in this for the long haul and I'm not going to leave you when we both want answers. Platinum and Allison have answers we both seek and I'm not leaving your side until I get mine and help you get yours."

Niko, knowing Sapphire couldn't have forgotten how much he loved her and how much she loved him, knew she was probably going to refuse his help. He loved her and since this was his fight too, he needed answers as badly as she did.

Sapphire, knowing Niko was right, sighed heavily and shook her head in astonishment.

"Yeah, I know I'm a stubborn fox." Niko said reading his girlfriend's expressions. "But that is why you love me, right?"

Sapphire smiled weakly from behind her visor, looking at Niko and standing up straight. "This isn't your war," she said simply, shaking her head slowly. "It's the Insurgent's war. Niko, I could tell you why you have some of Allison's powers. I just thought you always knew how."

She turned her gaze back over to the data station and the pile of dog tags. "This agency is enough mine as it is the Director's. And he's never told me the truth. I need answers more than anyone does at this point. Besides, there's nothing on those dog tags to help your cause." She closed her eyes, "There's no way to put this gently. But, thank you for helping me, Niko. I'd still be fighting for the wrong causes if it weren't from you." She gently wrapped her arms around Niko and brought him in for a hug.

"So...are we breaking up until this is all over?" Niko asked hoping a 'No' would come as reply. Sapphire nodded and Niko looked down sadly. 

"Oh." Niko said sadly. "Then tell me why I have some of Allison's powers so I can leave you to this war."

**Poor Niko! Wonder why this had to be? And why exactly does Niko have Allison's powers? Until next chappie! Take it easy!**


	5. Love's Reasons

**Chapter 5**

**Love's reasons**

"Allison was a soldier," Sapphire started, stepping a small step back. "And she died because of her own failure. But the sick bastards that found her took what blood they found left in her body and distributed it out for money. Some of it somehow found its way into you."

Sapphire observed Niko's upset structure and tone and gently hit his arm. "Hey, don't be so down," she told him with a smile that was a simple turn up of the corner of her mouth. "I'm gonna need you around to help me rebuild out of the ashes. You're still my best friend."

"Yeah." Niko said. "So in what ways could I possibly help when the only reason I helped was you. It's nice to finally know where my powers come from, but why do I feel more is to be told with time? And where can we find the bastards who distributed her blood?"

Sapphire, taken aback by Niko's forced want to help when he lost the main reason to do so, shook her head in exasperation. She couldn't believe her friend would do this to himself, when he totally and completely had no reason to do so. She decided to finally take off her visor and ask Niko what his problem was. She knew as long as she put her Insurgent work before the person, who has been with her centuries, he would never truly be happy. Taking out a pack of Poky (A/N: a Japanese candy stick if you didn't know) and handing one to him and putting one in her mouth and lighting it with her cigarette lighter, she looked at him with an expression saying, "wanna tell me your problems?"

Niko took the Poky, munched it, and began to talk.

"Ever since we were kids," Niko began. "I always to be like you, because you would defend me when kids would pick on me and I couldn't fight back. You were the strong one, who, unlike most girls at school, could bust a dude's skull in if they fucked with me or anyone connected to you. As the years went by, my likeness of you grew to love and I didn't until a while ago, know how to tell you. It kills me a little to know our relationship had to end so quickly over this, but this is more important and I guess if it's more important than we are, I can't change your thinking on that. But I'll still love you and I'll _still_ help make these assholes pay for doing this to Allison."

Sapphire couldn't help but let out a quickly chuckle. She blew out the end of her Poky and ate hers before putting her helmet back on and turning back to the data station.

"What can I say?" she asked, "I'm a badass." She didn't feel like getting so serious in something other than the data stored in the dog tags lying near the keyboard now. Any time but then would have been fantastic.

"Finding those people is a fight we can take care of another day," she told Niko as she thought over everything he said, becoming serious once again. "But, this is more important than anything right now. You said it yourself." She looked down once again. "Niko, I don't need a boyfriend distracting me now, or anytime soon. What I need is a good friend to understand that. Stay in touch, and... When I get the information I need, I'll tell you everything I can. I can't do this alone, no matter how much I want to." She thought a moment longer before adding, "There's gonna be a war. And I'm going to need someone to fight that one with me."

"I understand." Niko said. He didn't quite get his friends reasoning, but he understood it enough to know she needed space and didn't need a boyfriend. He got up and looked at Sapphire. "Well I'll leave you to it."

He then left. Sapphire didn't see him for a while after that.

As Niko looked through records that he "borrowed" from the Hesitance, he saw something from Sally Acorn that was interesting. He walked over to his computer and inserted the flash drive and what he saw was a transmission to him from Sally.

"Niko." Sally said. From what Niko saw, she was beaten up pretty badly and looked like she was going to die in a matter of seconds.

"This transmission is to tell you, whenever you get it, that your mother, Tikal, isn't your true mother. Your true mother is Rosemary Prower and your brother, Tails, is a mole for the Insurgents. He was recruited by the Hesitance to implant the blood sample from Allison in you and then teach you to use it then recruit you for the Hesitance. What he didn't expect was for Sapphire, your friend, to get in the way and move your mind past his intentions and so he let you have a friend that he would make you turn against later. The Insurgents are the ones who killed Allison. Your mother and I tried to look into this, but was killed."

Niko began to cry at this.

"Mom…" Niko mumbled before breaking down in tears. After a while, he regained himself and continued to watch the transmission.

"Niko," Sally continued. "You must continue what your mother and I started, join the Hesitance and stop the Insurgents."

With that, the transmission ends. Niko now knew what he had to do. He got his gear and ran towards the Insurgents base.

Niko began to cry at this.


	6. Sapphire and Niko's Discovery & Escape

**Chapter 6**

**Sapphire and Niko's Discoveries and their Escape**

**Let's check on Sapphire, shall we?**

Once Niko left, Sapphire was quick to getting her data. She started with Platinum's dog tags, shoving them into a socket on the side of the computer. As she did, the screen came to life, and dozens of numbers, facts, and pictures appeared. She tried to scroll through them all at once, finding the amount of information Platinum had managed to store remarkable. After searching for only a little while, she found the truth that was hidden from her for so long: The Director's true intentions.

If Platinum was right, which she probably was, the Director had broken some of the highest laws, and committed some of the worst crimes. However, what she really couldn't believe was that the Insurgents, the entire organization, had been for Allison. He had been apparently wasting away, trying to get her memory right. That's why he needed her for surgery when she was smaller... She couldn't believe it. He had lied to her and the other Insurgents for years now. Who knew what else he was hiding? Infuriated, she yanked Platinum's dog tag out of the socket and plugged in Allison's dog tag.

Within Allison's dog tag, Sapphire was able to pinpoint the exact memory unit Allison's main memory cell had been kept in, and where it was. 'Memory is the key,' she thought to herself. Allison's memory unit was the key to the entire Insurgent project. She shook her head and slid that dog tag out before slowly, hesitantly putting her own in, curious as to what Platinum had hidden in it.

Turns out, it wasn't much. Nevertheless, what it was helpful. While there was some info on the Hesitance in Platinum's dog tag, there was much more on her own. She read it and sighed, trying to deny the reality that was true:

The Insurgents had been the bad guys all along. Moreover, she needed to put an end to the Director's operation.

X.X.X.X.X.

Sapphire panted as she leaned back against a wall, shotgun tight in her grasp. Leave it to the Director to crash the Mother of Invention after he found out was she knew. She closed her eyes and listened to the dangle of the three sets of dog tags around her neck as she reloaded, forehead heavy with sweat from behind her helmet. The suits were supposed to keep moisture out, but ever since the MOI crashed, they hadn't been working the same.

Once the Director found out how much people were finding out, he ordered P.H.I.L.S. to crash the Mother of Invention, the Insurgent's main base. This forced people to evacuate immediately and report to the other, smaller Insurgent place scattered throughout the world. Many people died, but many also survived. The Director had gone into hiding, and Sapphire had somehow stricken up a deal with the Hesitance, taking in some of the more injured Insurgents. They also agreed to help Sapphire find the Director. It was amazing how quickly respect for that man could turn into hatred for his actions.

Insurgent base Sigma had bonded with a large Hesitance base, one that had been renamed the Insurgency. This was where most stayed, and most died. Many were still loyal to the Director, and were doing their own manhunts for those who opposed him. One of those manhunts was going down just then. A few Insurgents, codenames Obsidian and Cobblestone, had assaulted the base with other loyal Insurgents, and had caught them by surprise.

Niko walked up to the base to sense Sapphire in trouble. He ran inside, snuck around, and found Sapphire. He nodded and turned into his demon fox form and bowed so she could get on and grabbed her with one of his tails and looked at her.

"Which way?" Niko said through telepathy.

"Why the fuck are you here?" Sapphire asked instead of answering Nikos question, nervously checking the entrance of the small office room she was in that had apparently formerly belonged to Platinum. She was careful to keep her balance, though rival Insurgents started flowing into the room suddenly.

"Son of a bitch!" she yelled, raising her gun and firing her gun at the soldiers in the doorway, quickly eliminating most of them.

Niko launched a psychic blast that destroyed the rest.

"I came to tell you I found some info on my family and its connection to the Hesitance." Niko said. "We can't talk here though we gotta get outta here! So which way?!"

Sapphire gritted her teeth and climbed off Niko's back, carefully watching the door. "I'm not going to abandon my post here," she told her childhood friend, pressing a button on her helmet.

"Sapphire to Gold, Sapphire to Silver, Sapphire to Garnet, Sapphire to Main, do you all copy?" she asked, and she got clears from all four. She let out a sigh of relief.

"That was a close one," she continued. "Announce standard 'clean up' protocols in Sections A, B, and H," she ordered.

"Already on it," Main, the people at the main com. tower replied.

"Then is it safe to tell you here?" Niko said. Upon getting a nod, he went into telling how he took info from the Hesitance servers and found out that Tails was his brother; his mother tried to expose the truth about the Insurgents but was killed. After finishing his tale, he looked at Sapphire and smirked.

"So," Niko said teasingly. This was a way of speaking he knew Sapphire liked, a little. "Now that it's my fight now too, what say we work together and finish what my mom started and take these sons of bitches down?!"

Sapphire shook her head. "Damn, you make it sound so easy." She walked over to a black calendar that hung on the wall and tapped it with her gun. "We've been trying for five months, Niko. FIVE months! We're doing this step-by-step; you can't just barge in and take the whole thing down, especially since we don't know where the Director is.

She dropped her gun onto her desk, and took off her helmet, putting it next to her firearm. "This is still my fight more than yours, you know," she added, her face mixed emotions of seriousness, hatred, despair, and plain boiling anger.

Niko, realizing he pissed her off, looked down sadly.

"Sorry," Niko said. "I just want to end this quickly, ya know? I feel like it's about time this ended. I'm sick of being lied to, things being hidden from me, and people just generally keeping shit to themselves. If this has been going on for five months, the maybe me helping can maybe, just maybe, help you end this before innocent people die."

Sapphire knew Niko was right. His help would be appreciated, but where had he been all this time, why wasn't he here when it mattered…five months ago? Niko noticed this question and he sighed.

"I felt I should separate myself from you so you could concentrate on the data you received from Platinum and Allison." Niko said answering her question before she could blurt it out in anger. "I was doing my own research too and I figured we could put both of our findings together and stop the Insurgents together. I know I've blatantly getting you and the others in some deep shit since I met them. I'm sorry for that. I just felt I was helping you guys out but all I was doing was being what everybody at school called me, a useless Demon…"

Tears began to fall off Niko's face and he quickly wiped them away with his tails and looked at Sapphire while holding back more tears that were coming out.

"I wanna be useful to the cause," He said, fresh tears falling down his cheeks. "Now that I know my part in it. It's not much of one, but it's one that makes this my problem as much as it is yours. So please lemme help and you'll see over the five months I've been gone, I've gotten stronger and wiser! I won't let you down, Sapph! I swear!"

"Niko, you don't realize it, but ever since you came to the Insurgents with the task of finding Tikal, you've helped us. Well, me more than anyone," Sapphire started, tilting her head to the side. "If you would have never done that, I would have never needed to search for reasoning, and the Director would still be playing us all."

She walked over to Niko, "I need you to understand, a lot can change in five months, and a lot HAS changed in five months. It's going to take you a while to adapt. Now, don't get all cocky on me and say it won't be. It will. I've been here the entire time, during the start of the rebuilding process, the Mother of Invention crashing, the Director fleeing. It's been a lot to take in. It's been a harsh reality that I've been trying to run away from, trying to avoid. But, it's caught up to me, and even I haven't figured out everything around here yet."

Sapphire lowered and shook her head, "I probably never will."

Getting her mini rant done and over with, all emotions of anguish and depression and slight anger were suddenly erased from her features. "If you want to help, you're going to have to do things right, and that includes getting used to the Insurgency and everything in and outside of it to the best of the ability. We have zero breathing room, no room for failure. If you can accept those terms (and a few more to come), I'm sure the Insurgency will welcome your help." Slowly, she extended her armored hand for a handshake.

Niko nodded and shook her hand. He knew that if this was going to end, he was going to have to play by the rules. Rules were one thing he hated more than anything, but he knew was gonna have to follow them if things were ever going to go back to normal.

"So what's our next move?" Niko asked.

**Niko and Sapphire have their work cut out for them! Let's see what happens! See you guys next chappie!**


	7. Vendetta

**Chapter 7**

**Vendetta**

"Actually," Sapphire started, pulling her hand back and walking back over to her desk, "I have to go assess the damage left behind by the X Insurgents. That's what we call them." She pulled her helmet on.

"Sapphire to Gold, Sapphire to Main, clean up is a go," she told them through the transmitter. She looked at Niko, "Like I said, it's not that easy to just go attack. We have priorities." She picked up her gun, just in case any more X Insurgents decided to show up. "You can either explore the Insurgency, or you can help me."

"I'll help you out." Niko replied and followed Sapphire. The fact there were priorities was one thing, but he didn't want to get into something that would have a negative impact later. So opting not to explore on his own was a good idea to him.

Sapphire left Platinum's, now hers, office, holding down the button on her helmet. "Sapphire to Gold, take Sections A, B, and C. Sapphire to Silver, take Sections J, D, and E. Sapphire to Garnet, take Sections F and G. Main, monitor every other section. I'll handle Sections H and P." Sapphire's office was where H and P met, so she thought it was realistic. They were mostly bear, from what she could see. Everyone had probably fled to the conference room. The damage seemed minimal, and nothing Alex and Fluorite, a new recruit who was formerly a Hesitance member, couldn't handle.

She flicked her head up and picked up her pace, turning to face an ally way on Section P. "Come on," she told Niko as she started down it. It was a short cut to get to the conference room.

"There's one big thing you need to know, Niko," Sapphire started as she walked down the alley. "I found out the real way Allison died... She died because of her own failure, her own mistake." She shook her head and barked a dry, humorless laugh. "That explains a lot, doesn't it?"

Niko nodded.

"Yeah that does explain quite a bit." Niko replied. "Turns out my mom was trying to find out what went wrong, but she was killed. I have to find out what they knew, but I'll do it your way and discover it all as we go. I don't wanna get anyone hurt…"

"You can't hit us as much as we already have," Sapphire muttered, mostly to herself. As she and Niko came out the other end of the ally, she turned right and opened the double door that were there, noise spilling out instantly. Yells, shouts, and plain nonsense. Things were being broken, and people were screaming nonsense. Some were crying, and others were fighting. Sapphire sighed and shook her head as she walked in, doing so slowly.

The inside of the building was set up almost like a church or courthouse. There were many rows of pews, and the room was large. There was a stage and podium up front, and two flags on both corners of the stage on their stills. One was the New Insurgents flag, black with a cyan circle of decent size in the middle. Within the circle was a large firearm, possibly a gun, crossed with a cyan armored fist. Underneath the two objects was the number 479 for their pilot, Four Seven Niner. It was written in tan. The hemline of the flag was silver, with gold on the corners. In the top right corner of the flag, there was a military, camo green I, as there was on the bottom left corner. There was also a white N on the two other corners. The firearm represented that field of fighting, while the fist easily represented hand-to-hand combat, and more specifically, Sapphire. As mentioned earlier, the 479 was dedicated to Four Seven Niner. The color it was written in represented Garnet and his armor. The hemline colors represented Gold and Silver. The 'N's and 'I's represented the new Insurgents. The white 'N's represented Gravel, their only British member, and the sort of military camo green represented Allison, since that was her favorite color. The solid black color of the flag represented the Director, since black was his favorite color. The cyan circle also represented Sapphire.

The other flag was the New Hesitance flag. The color was sheer platinum, very metallic and shiny. The hemline was gray with sapphire blue on the corners, and there was a large, dark blue H in the center of the flag. There was a dark red N behind the H, but both letters were clearly visible. On each of the corners, there was an asterisk like star. One was yellow, one was green, one was purple, and one was orange. There was also one on the bar of the H, which was brown. The base color of the flag was a dedication to Platinum, and the hemline represented both the Hesitance soldiers and Sapphire. The dark blue 'H' and dark red 'N' were the basic Hesitance colors. The yellow star was dedicated to Alexandrite, or Alex, the green and purple star was dedicated to Gold and Silver, the orange star was dedicated to Nickel, and the brown star was also dedicated to Platinum, since that was the color of her armor.

"What is this place?" Niko asked. "Some sort of memorial?"

Niko walked around and found his mother. A rosemary flower bouquet put on a ruby coin. He grabbed the flower he found in the alley, put it on the grave, and bowed to pay respects to each person there.

"I won't stop until the Director pays for torturing you souls like he has." Niko said with resolve. "I owe it to you, mom…."

He got up, followed Sapphire, and noticed there was a sword on him mother's grave. He picked it up, swung it, and tested its weight, which matched his own. Niko strapped it on his back and ran after Sapphire.


	8. Strategies

**Chapter 8**

**Strategies**

Sapphire looked around to make sure pretty much everyone that was supposed to be there was in the Conference Room. Thankfully, they were. As she walked down the aisle, she tried to listen in on some of the conversation that was happening. There was a lot of shouting about fighting back, and even more about the Insurgency's defensive plans. Nothing new.

As she stepped up onto the stage and behind the podium, she looked at both of the flags before turning her head downward. She sighed as she put her gun in the podium and took off her helmet. She was going to need a lot more volume this time. Her helmet wasn't supposed to restrict it, but she felt like it did. She also felt the New Insurgents and New Hesitance members take her more seriously when she doesn't wear her helmet.

She rested her helmet on the podium, slammed her hands down, and yelled loud enough to block out all the other noises in the room that seemed to have a yellow glow:

"HEY!"

Then everything was quiet.

"Damn!" was all Niko could say. He had been taken aback by the sudden shout.

Sapphire slowly slid her hand off of the podium once she had gotten everyone's attention. She instead rested her elbows on the podium and scanned the crowd, stopping her search once she found Garnet, Gold, and Silver. "Were your Sections secure?" she asked, her voice tight and serious like, leaving no room for stuttering or any other sort of speech issue.

All three nodded in unison, and repeated a phrase they said often, "Yes, Sir."

Sapphire nodded, "Good." She then found Alex, "Did Main secure their Sections?" she asked him, and he nodded. She then turned her gaze back over to the entire crowd. "Last time we had an invasion like this, I said I had better not here any bickering until we assessed the situation, checked for damage, and made fair points in front of the entire Insurgency. Wasn't I clear on that?"

No answer.

"I said, WASN'T I CLEAR ON THAT!?"

A flow of "Yes, Sir's," finally came after Sapphire raised her voice.

"I thought so. If you have any issues with the Insurgency's defense policies or recent plans, you bring them forth NOW. Not later with your friends, not two days for a riot, NOW."

Niko marveled at his friend's ability to take control amidst chaos. He had known her for years but the five months he's been gone had changed her greatly. He was amazed and a little scared. He too had changed but he was waiting for the right time to show that off.

"Now that we're all here," Niko said. "We can properly plan our next moves. We're in a chess-like situation, we the Knights and Queen," He pointed to Sapphire when he said Queen. "Are trying to take out the enemy, but we are down both our bishops and Rooks. We now have as I see it, all eight Pawns, the Knights and Queen. We need to figure how we're going to take the enemy King, the Director, down. So in short, we need to construct a strategy to stop this without too many casualties on our side."

Suddenly, Niko's eyes glow sky blue.

"What do you think we've been trying to do, huh?" Silver asked from the backmost pew, crossing her armored arms. "You take us for fools, don't you, Mr. Know-It-All, barging in like you're going to be some hero. Well, guess what? It's not that fucking easy! We're not just twiddling our thumbs over here!"

Gold put a hand on his twin's solider, "Sil, calm down," he told her. Silver made a disgusted face and flopped down into her seat, muttering something about her outburst.

Sapphire shook her head, "Agent Silver has every right to be angry, Agent Gold." She turned her gaze to Niko. "Like I told you, you can't just go throwing around stuff like that. You haven't been here a day, you don't know what's going on. Please, hold your peace."

Another soldier, one of the New Hesitance, stood. "Sapphire, sir, we can't just keep taking these attacks and hide in the shadows. We have to do something, and quick.

"We're working on it, solider," Sapphire replied. "We can't just pull a master plan out of our asses anymore, especially with wave after wave of X Insurgents. We're getting there, but you have to be patient."

Another New Hesitance soldier stood. "Why don't we just let some escape, then track them?" she asked as if her plan was the best idea ever. There were a few mumbles.

"Hush," Sapphire hissed, eyes narrowed. "It's not that fucking easy. I'd like to see you do my job, Beatrice. Making the tracking devices would be easy, but those soldiers aren't as dumb as we think they are. We tried tracking them once, and they led some of our own into a trap. It's a dumb move now. Anyone else want to call out dumbass ideas? I'm open for anything right now."

"I do." Niko said in a hollow voice. "I gained the ability to hack electronic devices and the servers they work on. I can do something with that, but I need to know the sitch first. So, what's the sitch?" (A/N: Kim Possible reference!)

A New Insurgent sitting in the front pew stood up and turned around to face Niko. "The 'sitch' is we're pretty much fucked. And as far as hacking goes, Agent Garnet has that covered. It's his appointed position."

Sapphire held her head in her hands. "Alright, I'm about to bring this meeting to a close. For those of you on the Green Committee, we have a meeting in five hours. For those of you on the Black Committee, you are instructed to go to that meeting as well. It'll be held in the building next door. I do not want any more talk about today's events spoken in a directive manner, and if you do decide to talk about them at all, keep it quiet. We will take smaller steps to raise our defense and make a plan. If you think you have ideas, submit them to the Blue Committee at the Office. Rookies have practice in Section B today, and those of you in the Yellow Committee need to hurry up with those weapons. This meeting is now adjourned."

"So," Niko said his eyes back to normal. "What can I do? I wanna contribute somehow and just looking on as everyone does things isn't very helpful in my opinion."

Everyone started filling out, mumbling more about the meeting. Sapphire sighed as she put her helmet on and grabbed her gun. She stepped down from the podium and walked over to Niko.

"You're not exactly anyone's biggest fan right now," she told him bluntly. "Go around and help with body clean up, show them they can trust you."

"Okay." Niko said walking away. He walked up to Silver and sighed. "Hey. I know I act like a dick sometimes but I only try to help and I know I come off unhelpful. I truly want to help but I just tend to get in the way. I truly wanna help if you will let me."

Niko starts picking up the dead and checking to find the wounded. As he was he saw Tails walking up. He walked up to him.

"Da-I mean, Tails." Niko stuttered. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here on Sapphire's request." Tails replied. "You're mother...err, Mina is here too."

"But..." Niko said.

Tails smiled at his brother and shook his head. "Let's just focus on body clean up, we'll talk later."

Niko nodded and continued on his body clean up patrol.

**Looks like Niko can't be trusted yet…well let's hope next chapter, they begin to trust him a little bit!**


	9. Trust

**Chapter 9**

**Trust**

Silver started to consider Niko's words, but brushed it off quickly. He was a dick. Who did he think he was, just coming in and acting as if they had been doing nothing in five months? Repulsive, if you ask her.

Now matter how much Garnet disliked Niko before, he felt like those feelings had passed. Besides, Garnet was a nice person, so he was often forgiving. He tried to find him after the conference, and once he did, he ran up to him.

"Hey," he asked, "how have you been doing?"

"Good, more or less." Niko replied. "I know I haven't acted like a soldier lately and I apologize. Look I know you and Sapphire dated and it didn't work out. It didn't work out for us either. It hurt to know this was more important, but I had to figure my priorities out too and stopping the Director is now my priority."

Picking up a body he discovered it had a flash drive on it. Niko used his new ability to check its contents and what he saw was something worth telling Garnet. He turned to Garnet and smiled.

"This soldier has a map to the Director in his pockets." Niko said holding the flash drive. "I used my Psi-Hack ability to find out what the flash drive had in it and it has the entire schematic to where the Director is being held. We gotta show Sapphire!"

Garnet scratched the back of his head when Niko talked about their broken relationship. Wouldn't that be a surprise later.

He shook his head as Niko found the flash drive. "We've found dozens of those, all claiming to have maps to the Director's coordinates. Guess what they really were? Traps. The Director's tricky. You can't trust much that are on these soldiers.

He gently hit Niko on the shoulder, "Nice try though, especially for someone who just came in."

Niko was downtrodden. If he did show them that he'd be repeating the process he'd been doing 5 months ago. However, he was confident it wasn't a trap. He decided to find the other flash drives and see if they had a connection. After e found them all, he used his Psi-Hack ability and checks all of them. Sure enough Garnet was right each was a trap but he discovered what each had in common; they all had perfect ambush places...using his Psi-Link technique, he created a link to The Director.

"Hello." Niko said. "I noticed a Chessboard on your desk when I came in five months ago. So I figured why not play a game of Chess? You and me? I won't bring any friends and you won't either. Winner lives. Loser dies. How's that?"

Niko felt a nod from the Director and inwardly smiled. _Gotcha_ _bitch!_ Niko thought.

"We'll meet in the Kryptionas Caverns outside the Shimalan Badlands." Niko continued while adding Sapphire to the link. Once Niko got the confirmation nod, he cut his connection and turned to see Sapphire behind him confused. Niko explained his plan and hoped Sapphire would approve.


	10. The Match

**Chapter 10**

**The match**

"Fuck no."

Sapphire thought the idea was absolutely repulsive, and idiotic. Niko would get himself killed. The Director was a master chess player. Nope, Niko would be fucked if he went.

"1. You'd get yourself killed! 2. We've been tracking this asshole for five months, and then you just show up and act like some big hero? No! You're not going to take this from us, Niko. We've been working hard, and not only you making this deal so easily puts our efforts to shame, but also you'll piss everyone off. It's a terrible idea, Niko."

Niko had come up with a master plan to lure this guy out and it gets shot down! Niko was growing tired of taking things at a snail's pace. The longer this dragged on, the more likely the Director would've gotten further and further out of their reach. He knew a plan was needed and using himself as bait by playing a chess match with the Director with everyone ready and waiting to put a bullet through the man, win or lose, was _way better_ than waiting around, killing anyone who'd have the guts to show up, then always finding a location that was an ambush, and then ignoring it due to past mistakes. Niko wanted this to end and how! He was impervious to bullets, now more than ever. He could take anything the Director and his goons could possibly throw at him.

Nevertheless, here Sapphire was, denying a plan she hasn't even tried. It wasn't like what's been tried previously, so its success rate was higher than any plan she could possibly dish out now, which was none at this point. Niko had had enough of waiting, sloshing through dead bodies, and other meaningless tasks. He knew action needed to be taken and taken now! So as he left Sapphire's presence he met up with Tails, Mina, and Caramel and the four took off towards the Kryptionas Caverns. Little did they realize Sapphire figured would do it anyway and she and Garnet followed.

"Stubborn bitch," Sapphire muttered to herself as her, Garnet, Silver, Gold, and a few New Hesitance soldiers headed off, guns over their shoulders. She had to make the big announcement, and the people of the Insurgency were furious. Of course, it didn't take much to make them furious, but still. They had gone against the captain's (Sapphire's) wishes, which was bad enough as it was.

Meanwhile, in the Kryptionas Caverns, lines of X Insurgents stood, guns pointed at the entrance, ready to fire. The Director was an honorable man, so he kept his promise. They'd play chess, alright. His pawns were ready to face Niko's.

Niko sensed something was wrong and walked in alone. Just as he was about to call for the director but he instead got ambushed by X Insurgents soldiers. Niko without hesitation, summoned Chess pieces and looked at his queen.

"Let's go!" Niko said as she and the Queen took off slicing through the enemy like madmen. Niko hopped on the Queen's shoulders and the two launched a psychic blast that killed all that remained. He then saw that the Director wasn't there and he found a chess piece that doubled as a flash drive. He looked around and saw rouge.

"Rouge?" Niko asked. "Whose side are you on?"

"The side with the best morals." She replied pointing at Sapphire. "She's not that well-hidden from above. I'll meet you at HQ!"

"Well thanks for your help, your majesty!" Niko said and bowed. The Queen bowed and disappeared. He then turned to Tails, Mina, Caramel, Garnet, Silver, Gold, and Sapphire who were staring at him with shock.

"Fucking told you it was a trap," Sapphire muttered as she leaned against the entrance of the cave. She held out her hand, "I saw what you picked up. Hand it over."

As if Sapphire were that queen Niko just fought with, Garnet, Gold, and Silver raised their guns and pointed them at Niko as a threat, to say 'If you don't give it to her, you know what's happening.'

"I was gonna give it you anyway! DAMN!" Niko shouted. "Look I knew he pulled this but I did this to get exactly that! You see, Rouge was working alongside me. I had her go in while all the security was out here trying to kill me. When it was all over she delivered it to me." Niko tossed the device and jammed their guns with his Psychokinesis and walked away. He then stopped and looked behind his shoulder.

"Now you see I'm not as reckless as I was back then." Niko said. "I planned this one out and it worked too. I should have more ideas like this more often." He then walked back to the base. As he did, he looked up at the sky and sighed.

"Your move, Director" he said putting a stick of poky in his mouth. "Your move."

**The game has begun! Until we meet next chappie!**


	11. The Director's Chessboard

**Chapter 11**

**The Director's Chessboard**

"You're still SO naïve, Niko!" she yelled after him, pocketing the chess piece/flash drive. She sighed and shook her head. "I told him things weren't the same..."

Gold put a supportive hand on her shoulder, "And apparently, things aren't the same for him. I think you too met up... Too quickly, and expected everything to be the same. It's gonna take time, Sapph, so don't fault yourself."

Sapphire nodded slightly. "You're right. Alright guys, back to the Insurgency."

Niko looked at his watch and brought up the data from the flash drive and looked it over.

"A master chess player, eh Sapphire?" Niko said. The Director wasn't the only guy who was a master chess player. Taking the data from all the flash drives, he saw something no one else did. He ran over to Sapphire.

"Sapph!" Niko called. "I have some info on those flash drives you might wanna hear! Call a meeting I want everyone to see this!"

In her office, Sapphire took off her helmet and shook her head. "I can't do that until this information is authorized by me. Standard protocols." She knew Niko hated rules and such, but he really needed to get used to them.

Niko shows her his discovery. He puts all the data from every drive collected and she sees a bunch of coordinates.

"These are chessboard designations." Niko said. "The Director's using us a chess pieces in a giant chess game! Watch what happens when I put in the data from the one we found tonight!"

Upon insertion, the data turns into a giant chessboard and all the ambush points show up as chess pieces as well as the places the Insurgency has defended.

"See?" Niko said proudly. "I saw this when I looked at all the coordinates. They're positions on a chessboard that coincide with the place where you've been ambushed! With the drive we found tonight, we can plan ahead like a chess master would. That of course you can safely leave up to me."

He saw he wasn't winning Sapphire over.

"Look I know I've been a dick, jumping into shit outta nowhere," Niko said pleadingly. "But you gotta let me be point for this one! I won't do anything like what I did tonight again, I swear! Just lemme lead you guys on this. I know chess and he's been playing us on his own personal Chessboard. I know you can't trust me, but you gotta try!"

Niko, still not getting his point across, does what Sapphire has only seen Niko do once, grovel and beg and kiss her feet. Sapphire realizes the only way to get Niko to stop is to try to trust him on this.

"Don't do that," Sapphire said quickly, bringing her armored foot up and kicking Niko in the face. She then barked a dry and humorless laugh. "A chess board. Leave it to him." She shook her head and looked at the now slightly injured Niko.

"Alright, you've got me," she told him, tilting her head to the side. "We can plan his attacks here. That'll mean we can avoid his next few attacks, and that'll give us more time." Sapphire sighed. "I'll reschedule the meeting of the Green and Black committee as soon as I can. You'll present your data, add no remarks, and be done with it. Do I make myself clear?"

Niko nodded and healed his broke nose and walked out, happy with himself. He just gave everyone an advantage and he hoped everyone can trust him with this. If not, they'd be going into planning blind and be ambushed again. Niko went to a data station and started fusing all the data together so he could save time. Suddenly he felt someone looking over his shoulder.

"Garnet?" Niko said. "What's up? Something wrong?"

Niko sighed after realizing he was looking at what he was working on.

"This is something I'll explain in time" Niko said. "But I'll tell you this much. It's gonna help us get ahead of the Director."

"Did you put this through Sapphire first?" Garnet asked, his voice almost doubtful.

Suddenly, over the intercom that broadcasted through the entire base, Sapphire's voice rang out. "Attention. In exactly two hours, the meeting of the Green Committee and the Black Committee will commence. That is all."

"Huh," Garnet started, "there's my answer."

Niko finishes up the work he's doing and walks towards to the meeting and sees rouge on the way.

"Rouge!" Niko shouted. Rouge flew over and perched on the windowsill.

"Niko." Rouge said. "What can I do for you, hun?"

"I just wanted to say thanks for helping me out." Niko replied. "I really appreciate it."

"It's no big, Niko. Rouge said modestly. "It's the least I can do after what I did to you. Speaking of which, have you see Shadow and Omega?"

"No." Niko said. "Well I'm on my way to show off our findings to the others. I want you to help me out."

Rouge was taken aback by this request and was only able to say, "Huh? Why?"

"Because you were the one who showed me the connections." Niko replied.

"Well, okay..." Rouge said in agreement and the two walked off side by side like two best friends.

**Did you catch the other Kim Possible reference? Until next chappie! Take it easy guys!**


	12. Retailiation

**Chapter 12**

**Retaliation**

Sapphire sighed as she put her helmet back on. The Director was a tricky one, that was for sure. It was a miracle that Niko had found those patterns, or else they'd never find him. As she stood and traced her hand along her gun, Garnet walked in.

"You're doing good, Sir," he said, leaning against the doorframe with a smirk. She punched his arm as she left, and he wasn't too far behind. He eventually fell in pace next to her.

"Wouldn't be here without you," she replied without looking his way, but he knew she meant it.

Niko and Rouge walked into the room with a flash drive with a white King.

"I hope everyone can trust me." Niko thought aloud.

Two hours had past, and, as Sapphire had ordered, the Conference was full with the members of Black and Green Committees. Unlike the Conference Room, the Meeting Room had one gigantic, white table in the middle. Every seat but two were full, and some were standing. The room was pretty much all white, and the New Hesitance and New Insurgents flag hung in the back of the room. The room had an elegant feel to it, and the quiet chatter added.

Sapphire and Garnet walked to the head of the table. She sat there, and Garnet took the seat to her left. Gold sat at the seat to her right, and Silver was next to him.

"Rouge and I have somethin to show you guys." Niko said as he showed everyone the map and everything he said to Sapphire in her office to the committees.

"And so," Niko concluded. "We have a head start and an advantage over the Director now. We can use this to plan a counterattack and find this guy. It's like chess. He's a master at it but it's time we beat him at his own game. I know I haven't been the optimal help, but you gotta trust me on this! I know chess like the back of my hand."

"It's true!" Rouge jumped in. "He can even summon chess pieces to command so you know he's a genius at it!"

"So what you guys say?" Niko asked pleadingly. "Can you try to trust me just this once?"

Sapphire clicked a button on the remote that controlled the TV, where the map was being displayed. The pressed caused it to flick dead, and she turned to the Committees to see their response.

A male and a female dressed in black suits (Revealing their spots on the Black Committee) stood. "You are aware that this isn't a game, correct?" the female asked, her voice having a thick accent that couldn't be placed.

"Even if this information is accurate, it won't help us find the Director. It'll only make it easier to fend off the next few attacks," the male said, bearing the same accent.

"Like my sister said, this isn't a game. We can't make one move that solves everything."

A male in a dark green suit stood. "I take it you found this drive at the ambush that you were told not to go to," he stated, narrowing his eyes at Niko. "The Director is smart. He wouldn't give one of his solider that drive, just for it to get lost and in the hands of his enemy. I say it's another trap."

"You don't get it do you?" Rouge asked. "He's been planning his attacks as chess moves. Watch."

Rouge set up everything on an actual chessboard. "As you see, we, the King piece, are safe at the moment. His next possible moves are to attack us directly and end it immediately, attack the Queenside Bishop, our Shimalu base, attack our Kingside Knight, our Station Square base, or attack either one of our White Forest bases. Sure, we hold him off no matter which way he chooses, but for how long?"

This brought everyone to the conclusion that Rouge was right and at this, she smiled. She loved being right as much as treasure.

"Niko is a master Chess player too," Rouge continued. "So letting him be point on this will save your lives because the Director left his King open with no piece that can defend him if we get too close. According to the map that's in a little place called Dolphin Resort."

"If we take that opening now, we can surely find him." Niko said.

Now it was Sapphire's turn to object. She stood slowly, her armor suddenly feeling heavy. "Niko, there is no Insurgent facilities in Dolphin Resort. We have found out that he's staying at some Insurgent base. So, if this map is right, all of our research has gone to waste." From behind her helmet, her eyes were narrowed very dangerously, as a warning.

The girl in the black suit shook her head. "Like Jamaal said, the Director is smart. He must have given the hard drive to one of his soldiers to drop because he knew you were here, and you would jump at the first opportunity to be a savior."

The man in the green suit, Jamaal, nodded. "I don't think this is something we can trust."

After that, constant chattering erupted in the room, arguments going on between the Committees almost immediately. Sapphire took her seat and sighed, and Garnet rested a hand on her back. She would let them argue for a moment, but that was all.

"Rouge?" Niko asked.

"Yeah..." She replied. "I know."

The two left, one with the thought "how stupid are these idiots?" and the other completely crestfallen. He decided to do what he has never done since this had begun, take a "vacation", and visit Dolphin Resort alone. He had no intentions on taking it easy, though. He walked into Dolphin Resort and searched around and one of the X Insurgents and tailed her into an alleyway. He turned intangible and went through the wall he saw her go through and saw the Director. However, he was on the other line of a conference call. Niko went up to the screen and traced the connection to a location he knew all too well, since he was trapped there for a good part of his life. He ran back to the New Insurgence and ran up to Sapphire who was looking at him, rather angrily.

"Before you yell at me for doing what I did," Niko said. "I found out where he really is!"


	13. Learning Curves Part 1

**Chapter 13**

**Learning Curves Pt. 1**

"Niko," Sapphire whispered harshly, "you can't just barge into this meeting, especially after what you just pulled. I advise you to go. They don't want your help, and as captain, I've gotta do what they want." She shook her head. "Even if you do think you found him, you can't be sure it's him. It could be an AI in a mechanical body. We've run into a lot of those, and I'm not about to be fooled by one again." She gently drummed her armored fingers on the table. "Niko, you wanted to help, right? I told you not to make accusations without consulting me first, or confirming your information. You can't help until you learn to play by the rules."

"Is there a problem, Agent Sapphire?" Gold asked as he looked her way, causing all of the eyes in the room to turn their way too.

Sapphire cleared her throat. "No, there's no issue. Now, what were we discussing?"

"Defense. We calculated we'll be able to defend ourselves for the next three attacks," Garnet replied, tapping something on the tablet in front of him.

"That's excellent," Sapphire said with a nod. "That'll give us more, much needed time."

"You know?" Niko asked. "I'm trying my hardest to help better than I had five months ago, but every time I do my part, it's a bad. There's a phrase called "A and B the C of D". You know what that means?"

Everyone shook their heads. "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty. Going beyond what's expected of you. That's what I did and it seems like that's just getting me nowhere with you! So fuck this! I'll take this asshole down myself, my way! A regular chess player takes his time, but a competitive one plays on a clock. You don't make quick but accurate decisions, opportunities you find afterwards are gone! If this is an ambush, I'll have myself to blame, but if it isn't and I do take the Director down, you'll wish you'd listened to me. Later."

"Garnet," Sapphire started as she closed her eyes, "take my spot for just a moment, please," she requested as she stood and followed Niko out, ignoring the heavy feeling that she got from her armor.

"Niko, wait up," she called, but instead of desperation in her voice, there was resentment and pity.

"Why am I trying to help when all I do is get in your way?" Niko asked angrily. "Every time I present something I know will bring us closer to the Director's trail, you or the others shoot it down. I'm putting my skills to work and my patience but I can't wait any longer Sapph! I've been looking for this guy with trial and error in mind for as long as I can recall. I made more mistakes than you lost members so I know what it's like to walk into traps and ambushes! I'm sorry about blurting out my ideas, I'm sorry for sharing them at all...you know how I get when I get a good idea? I wanna see it through. You gotta try this idea. We take as long as you wish to plan it out, but can't you at least try it? I know everyone wants me to disappear and stop helping. If this doesn't work and I'm wrong, I'll gladly do just that! But you have to trust me on this."

Sapphire gently rested a hand on Niko's shoulder. "The plan isn't full proof. I'm not willing to go in and lose more of my men if it's a trap." She sighed. "I'll... I'll try to work with the chessboard, see if I can find anything else with it. The Director wouldn't give away his position so easily." She looked back over her shoulder at the Meeting Room.

"They don't know you, but I do. You like to take risks just as much as I do, but this one might be too big. If you want to help me, I'm going to need to put you on the Black Committee. That's our highest Committee, and I think you might be most helpful there. After the meeting, I'll get you in, and you can work with them." She looked down. "I know I haven't been much of a friend, because I have to be a captain first. But you are still my friend, you know. I just don't need a friend right now. I need a soldier."

Niko, remembering how important her work was, especially now, nodded in agreement. He knew this was gonna require more patience than he had, but he had no choice. He went back to his quarters and looked at a picture of him and his mom when he wa born and a tear fell. Niko wanted this to end but he didn't want to lose his friends in the process.

"I have to just go with this for now," Niko said "It's the most I can do for now."

Sapphire returned to her meeting, and soon enough, it was over.

"Garnet, would you mind assigning Niko a spot on the Black Committee?" Sapphire asked as the two left the Meeting Room, and Garnet nodded.

"Of course." Garnet then set off with a quick salute. He started for Niko's quarters, armor making a slight clanking sound.

Niko was sitting on his bed playing chess with rouge when Garnet walked in.

"What do you want, Garnet?" Rouge said when she saw Garnet walk in. "Havent you guys done Niko enough damage?"

"It's okay rouge." Niko said. "What can I do for you, Garnet?"

"Sapphire told me to come by and get you signed up for the Black Committee," Garnet told Niko, paying no attention to Rouge. "If you come with me, I can go ahead and get you in." He leaned against the doorframe and looked around the room absentmindedly.

**Looks like Niko's gonna have get used to the New Insurgents/New Hesitance way of life! Can he do it?!**


	14. Learning Curves Part 2

**Chapter 14**

**Learning Curves Part 2**

Niko got up and followed Garnet. Upon arrival, Niko could feel everyone's eyes on him, and every eye was giving him the icy stare he had long forgotten people gave him. Niko tried not to look into anyone's eyes.

"I really hate it when people give me the icy stare Garnet..." Niko said.

"I got your back," Garnet murmured to Niko before looking at the people in the room.

"He's here on Agent Sapphire's account."

Once that was said, no one dared to glare at Niko. Garnet then led him over to a receptionist in a plain, sleeveless black dress.

"Uh...hi." Niko said.

Without words, a sheet of paper as given to him, which he signed after taking the time to read it all over. He handed it back to the receptionist.

The receptionist looked the paper over before handing it to Garnet with a pen. He sighed in to authorize it before handing the pen and paper back. He then gestured for Niko to follow him.

Niko followed and looked at Garnet.

"So," Niko said. "What exactly is the Black Committee's job in the grand schematic of what's happening?"

Garnet looked at Niko as if he hadn't been here at all but then realized he truly had no clue.

"The Black Committee's job is to basically run the Insurgency and make the plans. We're the glue that holds this entire operation together," an ice blue fox in a long sleeved black dress said as she walked up next to Garnet. She had a distinct British accent.

"Like I couldn't have told him that, Ice," Garnet told the fox, Ice, as he rolled his eyes.

Ice chuckled, "Gotta be quicker, Sir." She nodded towards Niko. "I've heard of you. Niko, is it? If you'll come with me, I'll bring you to the scanning room."

Garnet nodded. "Just gotta get you scanned and appointed a specific job, and then I'll show you to it."

"Uh...Okay." Niko replied and followed Ice to the scanning room.

"Wait." Niko said hesitantly. "Will this hurt at all?"

"I'll be honest," Ice started as she led Niko through a glass door into a white room. There was a single white chair in the middle, and two electrodes on the ground near it. "You'll feel a tingle if you let yourself. Some people have that strong of an imagination. But it won't hurt."

She led Niko over to the chair. Once he sat down, she placed on electrode on his head, and the other on his chest.

"Just relax," Ice told him as she left the room. The other members of the Black Committee were looking at Niko through the one-way glass as they pressed a few buttons.

Rouge walked in at Sapphire's request to check on Niko and when she saw him with the electrodes she perched herself on a chair and watched with interest

After a while, Niko walks out the scanning room, hair frizzed out to point where even his tail sticks up. At this, everyone laughed and Niko looked at Rouge.

"Not...one...word." Niko hissed to laughing Rouge.

**Well, it's time for Niko to get the true hang of things. What job will he get? Find out next chappie!**


	15. Assignment

**Chapter 14**

**Assignment**

Ice skipped over to Niko and waggled a finger at him. "Now, now, I told you to relax! You were so tense, and that's what happened. Mm, my apologies." One of the people working the control panel called her over and handed her a clipboard. She then walked over to Niko.

"Ok, Niko Prower. You're a Psi, for sure... Alpha's your level, correct?" She went on stating obvious things, like his weight, height, and eye color, but also added bits of information from his past that would affect his current demeanor."

"... In addition, you're healthy, so that's good. Alright, Niko, your job is to be an Overseer!"

"Uh...Overseer?" Niko asked. "What's that?"

"You basically secure the safety of the Insurgency, without being a Solider or Agent," Ice told Niko as she continued to look over the information that was on the clipboard. "You do daily rounds, make sure everything's in top shape, and, when attacks come, you provide the best information you can to help those fighting. It's like being on the sidelines, but you get to actually help!" Ice tapped the clipboard dreamily.

"I wanted to be an Overseer, but this is what Sapphire assigned to me, so I'm ok with it!"

Niko was dead silent for a while. He never knew what an Overseer was until now and boy, did he hate the idea. However, if this was the best way he's gonna be able to help until they found the Director, then so be it. Besides, he might as well train to become an Alpha+ Psi in the meantime. Niko regained his composure looked at Ice and nodded.

"I kinda hate the idea of being on the sidelines," Niko said. "But I'll do my best!"

Ice smiled, "I'm sure you'll do great! You'll be staying in your usual quarters, and you'll be appointed to the Main Comm. Tower in the morning to be dispatched out in groups. Garnet will show you there; he's waiting outside the room."

She started to walk away, but quickly remembered something. Ice rushed back over to Niko and handed him a piece of paper that was on the clipboard. "These are your hours! Remember, up bright and early, and to bed late!"

Walking alongside Garnet, Niko had many questions about being an Overseer.

"So what did she mean, 'dispatched out in groups?'" He asked.

"Each day, you'll go out with a group to go check on supplies, make sure we have enough ammo, weapons, food, all that good stuff," Garnet told Niko as they walked along. "Real easy job, but real important, too."

"The Overseers we already have will help you out on that one," Garnet replied. "They'll bring you to it, and you'll have to count out how much we have of everything. Do all of that right and you just might get promoted."

He stopped walking once he was in front of a large tower that was taller than the buildings in the Insurgency. "You work on the bottom floor."

"Wait, promoted?" Niko asked. "How?"

Garnet shrugged and made some gestures with his hands, "You just do... Really well. Next level is Watchman, then I think Soldier, and then Agent."

"Okay you're gonna have to explain each level to me." Niko said waving his hands in confusion.

"If you're a Watchman, you watch over the Insurgency from the top floor, watch for oncoming threats. Soldiers are the second responders when we're having issues, and Agents are the first responders. They do the heavy lifting. And both Soldiers and Agents have their own ranks and levels that I can't get into without confusing myself." As Garnet explained each level, he made stacking motions with his hands.

Niko nodded. He just found it's gonna take a while for him to get up to Agent, but he was willing to do it and in the meantime, hone his skills so maybe his rise through the ranks won't be too long.

"Thanks, Garnet...or should I say "sir"." Niko said remembering Garnet wasn't his equal.

Garnet and nodded and saluted. "Anytime. Go in and find the dark red hedgehog in the black jeans and tie. He'll show you around."

Niko ran up to the person in question.

"Hi...uh..." Niko said. "Agent Garnet said I should talk to you. I'm Niko, the new Overseer."

The hedgehog muttered his name, but all that could be made out was the syllable T. "Let me show you to your station," T muttered as he walked deeper into the room.

Niko followed T to his station. Niko's watch started to glow and the Queen showed up on the face.

"Niko?" She asked inquisitively. "Do you think we can help you?"

T, having heard turned to Niko.

"I was wondering that myself." Niko replied.

T did a sort of nod/shaking of the head. "They can, but it won't benefit you. You're scored on your work alone." He then gestured at a station. Black desk, black chair, black computer, black speakers, everything Niko would need for his job; in black.

"Here we are," T said as he rolled and cracked his neck. "Now, do you wear anything solid black presently?"

"I can...I'm guessing that's the dress code?" Niko asked to a nod. Niko hated the color black, but this was one of those sacrifices he was going to have to make. He snapped his fingers and a black suit with a black tie formed on his body. "How's this?"

T nods, "Perfect. However, just a heads up: If Captain Sapphire finds out your using your powers so loosely, she'll be on your case. All about hard work here." He pat Niko on the back. "Everything else you need to know is on the computer."

Niko nodded. So he had to do a little manual labor...big whoop! He could manage that!


	16. Sempra Fi

**Chapter 15**

**Sempra Fi**

A month and a half pass by and Niko, finally, is promoted to Soldier and he walks up to Garnet.

"So, I'm finally out the mail room," Niko said proudly. Garnet knew this to be some of Niko's office humor. "So what are my duties as a Soldier. So far all I get so far is I'm the last line of defense when the agents can't fulfill a certain task alone or at all. So what are my other duties?"

The soldiers at the Insurgency had been able to fend off the first two attacks that had been planned, and were making great success, as far as finding the Director went.

"Hold up, buddy, you aren't out of the mailroom yet," Garnet told Niko with a slight smirk. "You still have your regular duties, but Solider on top of that."

"Oh?" Niko asked "And what other duties do I have?"

Niko mumbles some indescribable words under his breath while he's cleaning an assault rifle. He couldn't believe he was promoted from taking inventory for cleaning the guns! This wasn't going how he wanted, but as always, he has to play by the rules if he's going to get anywhere. So, as he returned from the storage room cleaning guns, he decided he'd just go to sleep. However, that didn't last long, as he heard an explosion come from Sapphire's quarters.

"Oh no! SAPPHIRE!" Niko said running towards her quarters and see she's being attacked by X insurgents. He then runs towards them and stands in front of Sapphire and takes them on himself. After eliminating them all, Niko turns to Sapphire.

"You okay, Ma'am?" Niko asked. "It's okay don't move!"

Niko heals her wounds and sits her on her bed.

Sapphire doubled over and caught. "I would have been fine," she snarled as she pushed Niko away. And not gently either. She stood up and walked over to her desk where she planted her armored hand. "And, you of all people, DO NOT call me ma'am."

Suddenly, Garnet, Silver, and Gold burst in. Seeing that Niko had cleared up the X Insurgents, Gold and Silver rushed around to pick up the bodies and search for anything they might have left behind, Gold, like always, doing the heavy lifting, though Silver wanted to.

Garnet, however, rushed to Sapphire's side. He mumbled something, and then Sapphire yelled at him. "The attack was supposed to be FOUR hours from now, Garnet! They've already figured us out, so that means your calculations were WRONG!" She put her head down and let out a low groan. She turned around and left the office, leaving one message:

"THIS ONE'S ON YOU!"

Nevertheless, Garnet followed her anyways.

Niko began to wonder what happened and he eventually gets the idea…the data he presented either was messed with or it was inaccurate. The Director must've found the data was missing and switched his strategy. Niko felt terrible. He didn't foresee this occurring and it did. Niko ran off to catch up to Sapphire but was hit in the back with a sniper round and fell to the ground and his body was picked up by a familiar green hedgehog who just laughed and disappeared right in front of Silver's eyes.

Gold, who wasn't too far behind Silver, rushed over to Niko. "Call the Meds," he ordered of Silver, who nodded and started talking in a hushed voice to someone over her communicator.

Garnet, who had heard the shot, turned around and hurried back over to Niko. Both him and Gold dropped to their knees and took deep breath, Garnet applying pressure to the shot wound and Gold trying to stop the bleeding with his own Psi abilities.

In Niko's subconscious is standing in front of a cloaked woman. She walks up to him and smiles warmly.

"Hello, Niko. My son." The woman says removing her cloak. She revealed herself to be Rosemary Prower. Niko falls to his knees and cries.

"Mother." Niko said tears falling down his face. "Please tell me what you were looking for."

"I was looking for a missing strand of your DNA where your true powers are hidden."

"Extra DNA?" Niko asked.

"A portion was taken by the Director so I went to retrieve it, but I was killed. Here, Niko. I may have been killed, but that didn't mean the DNA wasn't successfully stolen."

Rosemary kisses Niko on the cheek and suddenly he feels a surge of energy and he gains a sky blue visor and blue armor. Niko looked at his new armor and nodded.

"Thanks mom." Niko said. "It's the best birthday gift ever from you."

"Niko." Rosemary replied. "Do me a favor and put a bullet in the Director's nut sack for me, okay dear?" 

Niko was taken aback by his mom's attitude, but nevertheless nodded.

"Niko I may be dead." She said. "But I'm always with you by your side. Niko. Remember...Sempra Fi."

Niko begins to glow a slight blue and a flash of blue light and Niko gains some blue armor with a sky blue visor and looks at Sapphire and smirks.

"Hey Sapphire." Niko said.

Niko had immediately been places in an emergency care center, and Sapphire wouldn't let anyone touch him. She had been trying to heal him, and, even though he had been shot, she punched him in the shoulder. She didn't give a fuck about his armor. if his was anything like her armor, it didn't keep out strong attacks. And Sapphire's punch was not gentle.

"Shut your fucking mouth!" she yelled, early stern. "And wipe that damn smirk off your face. You were just SHOT. You know why?! Because you tried to fucking help me! And look where that got you? Because of ME. What the hell were you thinking? I would have been FINE." Sapphire knew Niko's injury was her own fault, and that just made her more pissed. Unlucky for Niko, he was the one there for her to take it out on.

Niko looked at her angrily through his visor. Now it was his turn to get pissed.

"Why?" Niko asked. "YOU _REALLY_ WANNA KNOW WHY?! BECAUSE IT'S MY FAULT YOU GOT INTO THAT SITUATION IN THE FIRST PLACE! I DIDNT SEE THE IDEA THAT THE DIRECTOR WOULD CHANGE HIS STRATEGY UP! I TOOK A BULLET SO YOU WOULD DIE AND I GET IN TROUBLE FOR HAVING FALSE INFORMATION! YOU MAY BE MY BOSS NOW, SAPPHIRE, BUT YOU'RE STILL MY BEST FRIEND!"

Niko looked at Sapphire who was brought to tears by what he said. Remembering what his mother said, he looked at Sapphire and took off his visor.

"Sapph...look at me," Niko said lifting her head so she looked into his sky blue eyes. "Sempra Fi...no one left behind, no one suffers alone. I still love you, but like you said, this comes first. I'm gonna be there no matter what. I won't let a bullet hit if you if can be helped. Girlfriend of no, you're really precious to me and I live by the motto, 'If a friend wants me to be there, I'll be there...to help.' Oh and about being shot, I have quick healing abilities now so I'm fine now."

Niko get off the bed and walks up to Sapphire.

"I'm going back to my quarter." He said walking away and putting his hand on Sapphire's shoulder. "If you ever wanna talk, lemme know. By the way, it's my birthday today."

With this, Niko left.

**Lemme know if you caught the Kingdom Hearts reference in a review! Also, if you don't know, Sempra Fi is the motto of the US Marine Corp. I wanted to add that in for a longtime.**

**If you got the references I've left in the story, tell me in a review and I'll personally review a story you pick, be it yours or someone else's. Until we meet next Chapter!**


	17. Breaking Point

**Chapter 17**

**Breaking Point Part 1**

It had been Sapphire's birthday a week ago. But birthdays didn't matter anymore.

She waited until Niko had left the room. Then, she slammed her fist into the wall hard enough to break through. She gritted her teeth and forcefully stopped her tears. Her father would be chastising her for crying. As soon as she had started, she stopped crying. She pressed the button on her helmet.

"Insurgency lockdown. No one in, no one out for any reason until I give permission." There was no reply until Sapphire yelled:

"DO YOUR FUCKING JOB!"

Niko was walking towards the door and saw it was locked. He looked down in exasperation and decided it was time to try out one of the new powers he got. He touched the door and with a puff of smoke he disappeared and reemerged on the other side and walked to his quarters and decided to play a little chess to pass the time the lockdown was in effect. Luckily Rouge was there when he got there. For some odd reason, she was the jewel hungry thief he was used to knowing. When it came to chess, she was as docile and not sticky-fingerish as she usually was. She was a calm and collected individual. Maybe it's because chess gave her something to take her mind off of treasures. Maybe. So as soon as he got in the room he removed his visor and set the pieces up.

"So," Rouge said while moving her pawn two spaces to open the game up. Niko let her go first because he believed in the "ladies first" rule when it came to playing a game like this, even though White is supposed to go first, she was allowed to go first anyway. "How was your time in a coma?"

"I gained new powers." Niko replied.

"Oh really?" Rouge said losing all interest in the game to hear what new powers her friend gained. "Like what?"

"Well the armor is one." Niko said as he captured Rouge's Bishop and the scoreboard above them went up 5 points for Niko. The score was now 7 to 4. "Oh and I can warp places by turning into a puff of smoke. Watch."

Using the power he used in the medical ward, he disappeared and comes back with two Subway Meatball Mozzarella sandwiches and hands rouge one.

"You know how powerful that would be in the field?" She asked amazed and face full of sandwich.

Niko nodded and suddenly Sapphire busts in looks at Niko and rouge and through facial recognition, they knew she wanted them in her office now. They looked at each other and swallowed hard. Hoping they weren't in any trouble, especially Rouge, they walked to her office and were handed a piece of paper with a mission statement.

"You're sending us on a mission?" Niko asked. Sapphire nodded. She knew this was a bitch for her send him on this one, but he didn't have anyone else she could trust with this.

"Rouge!" Niko said excitedly. "Our first mission and I already know this place like the back of my hand. Let's do this mission with flare!"

"You got it Foxy!" Rouge said, just as happy.

Suddenly Silver walks in and looks at Niko and rouge then at Sapphire as if she was crazy.

"Lemme guess?" Niko asked. "Silver's to go with us?"

"I can't trust you idiots out there alone," Sapphire hissed. Her voice used to be friendly, warmer, even though she was captain. All traces of that had vanished. "You're to guard the perimeter. No one goes in the Insurgency, and no one gets out. Now get what you need and follow Silver. You're going to be out there for a while." She turned around to leave, but hesitated in the doorway. She looked down and closed her eyes, but she spoke what was on her mind.

"Oh, and, Niko. Don't yell at your damn captain again. I brought you into this, and I can take you out of it." With that, she left.

Silver leaned in the doorway. "You really fucked up, didn't ya?"

Niko looked down and decided this was enough. His friend turned into a general practically overnight and he had living with it until now and now he was sick of it! He handed he communicator, badge, whatever he received from the Insurgency and walked away.

"Tell your captain," Niko said angrily. "She doesn't have to take me out. I'm leaving it on my own. I put my life into this, played patience, but this is where my limit peaks out!"

Niko blew the door open in anger and walked out, with rouge in pursuit.

With a smirk, Silver turned around in the doorway in one simple motion. "That's what she wants you to do, you know. She didn't think you'd be able to handle much more, so she gave you the opening." She shrugged, "But whatever. Don't try and stay to prove anything. It's not hurting me at all."

"Niko..." Rouge said sympathetically and looked at Silver. "He's busting his ass off trying to play by the rules, keeping any info on the Director he gets from Shadow and Omega to himself afraid to make anyone mad and make them think he's trying to be a hero, and you can't show a little empathy?! This is what Niko tried as a kid, to keep his powers from being discovered by letting himself get beat up. He knew if he showed he had a breaking point, his powers would no longer be a secret and he would be shipped off to a government lab to be experimented on or something. Sapphire's putting that same pressure on him and it sucks for him. I'm glad Niko decided enough was enough. I could tell he was reaching his boiling point every night. If he wasn't gonna leave, I was gonna make him eventually. Tell Sapphire Niko and I decided to take the info we discovered on our own and find the Director ourselves! Niko feels no need to prove himself worthy for anything on her standards. Also it's healthy to cry, if you hold in tears, you let darkness in. Enjoy the darkness she lives in trying to find the Director on her own. He's gonna find the director on his own and don't even think to stop us. It won't be for your benefit stopping us. We have more info and if you want it, you'll have to get in your own or probe it out of our dead brains."

Rouge looked at Sapphire, flipped her off and she and Niko left.

**Well that concludes that chapter! Thanks to chipmunkfanatic for being the first to review this story! I'm working really hard on it so the review I got has been super helpful in me continuing it! So don't be bashful guys! Review this as well!**


	18. The Final Battle Part 1

**Chapter 18**

**The Final Battle Part 1**

Silver laughed at the two retreating figures. Fuck them. She would deliver the message. The whole message. Then they'd be the enemy of the Insurgency. Plus, that was what everyone wanted anyway. She quickly hit the button on het helmet.

"Activate lockdown."

Suddenly, the message for lockdown activates over the speakers, and everything went silent. He front gates were locked, and lights went off. With Niko out of the way, both Silver and Sapphire knew life would be easier. Sapphire thinking so she wouldn't be distracted by him and Silver because she thought he just got in the way.

Meanwhile, Garnet was quietly dashing towards Niko and Rouge. "Hey!" he called out in a hushed voice.

"What?" Niko asked. "I'm sick of playing patience and by a book I never read. I wanna be able to break this case open, not take it at a snail's pace. I don't need rules. I've had too many of them to know how to follow them, but the rules I was put under weren't even worth following! IF you aren't here to come with us, then why did you sneak out?"

Garnet extended his hand, in it a small business card with dashes and numbers all over it in a specific pattern. "This is the station my personal radio is on. If you need any help, contact me." He paused just a moment.

"You know, one of Sapphire's top priorities is keeping her soldiers safe, hence the strictness and rules. You have to give her a break sometimes, she's never had to lead this many people. I can imagine it's a lot of stress. I would have stayed if I were you. But do what you want." He turned and started back towards the heart of the Insurgency before stopping and looking over his solider at Niko specifically. He spoke loud enough that he was barely heard.

"When we would go over our plans, she'd tell us to keep you out of it. She only wanted to protect you, like she always has. Did it for me too. She has a funny way of showing it, but she cares. She's told me she's had nightmares where you die. And it kills her every time." Feeling he had said enough, Garnet turned and dashed off, not wanting to be caught out.

"Thanks...Garnet." Niko said walking away.

"You aren't going back?" Rouge asked.

"Nope." Niko replied. "I have to do a few things before I even think of going back."

"Okay." Rouge said confused but decides to go with it.

Lockdown went as planned. Everyone was in their respective lockdown spots, and Sapphire could get some time to herself. She knew the action was extremely greedy, but she felt like she didn't have a choice. She dug around in her desk in her office, cursing loudly when she didn't find what she was looking for upon first search.

"Niko where did you get that?" Rouge asked.

"This? I borrowed it from Sapphire." Niko replied. "I'm gonna go ahead and give it back."

With a puff of blue smoke, the device disappeared.

Meanwhile, Sapphire was having a fit not being able to find what she was looking for until it appears in front of here with a note saying "Sorry I took this...I was just polishing it. There's a recording on it that I want you to hear."

Sapphire turned her head up at the sound of a slight clang. She closed the drawer and read the note, instantly recognizing Niko's handwriting. She sighed and stood off, peeling off her armor and bringing it to its designated dresser. She then walked back to her desk and plugged the hard drive in her computer, clicking on the unknown file on it.

"Uh...oh boy, she's totally gonna rip my head off for this." Niko said. Though it wasn't him, one part of her felt like actually doing just that. The other part missed him badly.

"Sapphire...I was gonna save asking you this until the Director was caught, but I can't hold it in anymore. This message is actually ongoing, but you can't reply...well here I go."

Sapphire notices Niko and rouge are in some sort of basement. Her eyes widened to see the X Insurgents flag waving in the background.

"Sapphire, I found this place as the actually last place the Director could be hiding. It isn't a trick as the flag is flying half-staff meaning he's here inside somewhere. I'm gonna end this here and now and I'm gonna leave the camera on but video feed off for a bit."

Sapphire heard the gunshots and blasts of psi-energy and after a while, Niko returns to the screen and he's severely hurt.

"He's headed to you..." Niko said on the verge of death. "He said he wanted to settle things with his...Daughter."

"Sapphire!" Rouge says taking the camera. "You've gotta get ready to meet this guy. He's learned some new tricks and he's planning to use them on you exclusively. Don't worry about Niko he's gonna be fine. Shadow's healing him at the moment."

Niko takes the camera and looks at Sapphire his eyes glowing in pain but full of honor and respect from his friend.

"Sapphire." He said. "I wanted to ask you something. There's a ring on the inside of the hard drive. When this ends, will you marry me?"

Sapphire gritted her teeth as she stared at the screen. 'Lies.' was her only thought. The Director wouldn't go on the move. She continued to stare at the screen before abruptly standing and pushing her computer forcefully off the desk. She couldn't help herself. She was losing herself. Falling apart. She looked at her now broken computer, thinking of Niko's question. Thinking about the Director's daughter.

She had Garnet, her current love interest, and then Niko, her childhood friend.

She shook her head furiously a recovered her cyan armor instead of her previously worn black that the Director had recommended in the first place. She then spoke through her comm.

"All of my Assistants come to me. Lockdown cancel."

"I don't think she believes you." Rouge said. "Do you think she'd believe the Director going mobile?"

"No." Niko said. "To prove it, we gotta get back before the director get there."

Nodding, Rouge, Shadow, Omega, Knuckles, and Tails followed Niko to the New Insurgency base.

Sapphire, Garnet, Silver, Gold, Nickel, Alex, Gravel, and Azurite had gotten what they needed and set out on feet almost immediately. Sapphire finally thought she knew where the Director was hiding. And she intended on getting there.

Everyone at the Insurgency was busy at work, just in case the Director decided to show up. Soldiers and a few Agents stood on the scene, Medic watching from a distance. Many were tracking Sapphire and her group via Psi abilities, and others were doing other important jobs.

"Rouge I think I see him." Niko said running off.

"You heard him!" Rouge shouted. "Let's go!"

Everyone ran up to the edge to see Sapphire walking right up to the Director. Knowing it was better that they stayed hidden until she and the others needed back up, they crouched down.

"You can do this Sapphire." Niko said glowing cyan and a small pulse goes through Sapphire relaying this. "In case of a bad sitch, I'm here, but this is your fight."

Sapphire smirked and delivered a hard punch to the 'Director.' He fell instantly, and sparks came flying out. Niko hadn't been wrong, the Director had been coming: Just not the right one. But if it weren't for him, she wouldn't have made the bold move of venturing off.

"I owe you one," she murmured as she kicked the bucket of bolts to the side and trucked on, the group of original Insurgents following close behind.

'Niko,' she thought with her telepathy. 'If you made it, come to me. Alone. This is your fight, too.'

Niko landed right beside her.

"Let's go kill this son of a bitch." He said smirking.

Niko then summons a Knight, hops on, and extends his hand, which Sapphire took and they rode off. As they rode off Niko knew it was gonna be troublesome to ask this now, but he needed to see where her head was on this.

"Sapphire?" Niko began. "About the video feed…did you ever begin to think about my question?"

Sapphire's mind was in another place, she looked behind her and Niko, the original Insurgents dashing off to keep up.

"I'd rather go on foot, but the quick ride was nice," she told Niko with a soft smile, changing the subject. Suddenly then, she dived off the horse.

Niko sighed and kept going. He wanted to know her answer, but he figured she'd try to avoid the subject. Niko immediately saw the director and he checked for signs of life in this one and sure enough, it was the real one. He jumped off, grew wings, and flew towards the Director. This was gonna end here and now! He landed in front of him and got into a fighting stance.

"Alright Director." Niko said. "This ends here!"

**Alright guys! The end is nigh and the battle has begun. Will Niko and Sapphire win? Find out next chappie!**


	19. The Final Battle Part 2

**Chapter 19**

**The Final Battle Part 2**

"Daydreaming again?" Sapphire called out to Niko in an enthusiastic voice, her and the other Insurgents running next to him and the horse. She could tell he was by the closed eyes and the mumbling of words. He was too excited.

She and the others slowed down their pace, Sapphire quick to call out, "On foot from here, Nik!"

Niko hopped off the knight and it disappeared. From here, Niko knew things were about to get real as hell and he needed stop letting his mind wander. Niko ran up to Sapphire a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah...sorry about that." Niko said. "I'm just super-stoked that we are finally working together on this one. But I got a question."

Sapphire looked at him curiously. Was he about to ask about the ring again? Instead of a marriage question, she heard something quite different.

"Once this is all over," Niko began. "Will I still be able to see you? I don't want our relationship to end here. I won't be able to stand the idea of you disappearing after all this is over and I can't go with you. So, please tell me I won't lose you and let it be the total truth."

Sapphire was taken aback by Niko's question. She knew once this was over, the Insurgency would get a break from all the bullshit he'd been putting them through. But, why was this even important? She'd see him again...right? Sapphire didn't know how to respond, but she gave the best answer she could.

Sapphire held up her hand as she stopped walking, the Insurgents following suit, some in annoyance. "Niko... I won't lie to you. I'm going to need to disappear for a while. But, once I'm ready, I'll find you."

And that was that. Sapphire started moving her legs again, wondering what it could be awaiting them at their destination. If she were correct, they were almost there. About five more miles, she guessed.

Niko was pretty much hurt. She's going to leave him once this was over. But why? Was the death of the Director something that would make her a fugitive? If so, wouldn't they both have to disappear? Niko pushed these questions to the side for now and focused on what was coming. Whatever her reason was, Niko had to respect it, no matter how much it hurt.

Five miles later, the crew was stood in front of one of the older Insurgent facilities, this one clearly abandoned. Sapphire walked to the door, and, thankfully, it was unlocked. Not that Garnet couldn't have picked the lock.

They stepped inside, and were faced with many doors, but Sapphire instantly knew none would lead her to the Director. He liked puzzles, and this was no different. She flicked her head to Azurite for him to scan the rooms, see which one they needed to go into.

Azurite looked through the walls, and then gestured straight ahead. "That one."

"Thank you, Agent Azurite," she murmured, walking up to the door. She put her hand on the doorknob, but paused. She looked at the others, as if to ask if they were ready.

"I'm ready." Niko said cracking his knuckles as his sky blue armor covers him. "Time to do work!"

The other Insurgents nodded in agreement. Sapphire shifted her gaze back to the door, and slowly, but surely, twisted the doorknob and pushed it open. And the sight they were faced with was not pretty.

In the room, lines and lines of animatronic armored soldiers stood, all in black armor. This was why the Director assigned her the black armor. To be like THEM.

The number of soldiers seemed to go on forever throughout the room, a few crates in the back with who knows what in them. They all stood as still as statues. Sapphire looked down and closed her eyes, a hand up to seize attacks.

"He kept trying... To get her right."

Niko, not wanting to have to face these things for a long time, threw away the inhibitor rings on his tails and started to glow a bright blue and turned into his demon fox form and created a giant bomb and looked at the others.

"GO!" Niko barked. "I'll catch up! If you stay, the bomb will kill you! I want to release this thing now, but not with my friends inside the blast zone! JUST GOOOO!"

Everyone does so, and hears a giant explosion and a huge painful howl. Everyone recognized who it was immediately.

Sapphire stayed at the door and closed her eyes. "That bomb cleaned out those that were there. But the Director has more." She gritted her teeth. She pushed the door back open, looking at the fallen bodies. However, she saw more take their place. She then hurried to Niko's side.

"It's funny." Niko said. "All those years ago, you were protecting me. You didn't care about my past; all you really cared about was my safety. Now, let me return the favor."

Niko gets up and his armor glows a pure white. He smirks underneath his helmet.

"Let's take these guys out together, Sapphire." Niko said. Suddenly Sapphire's armor turns white.


	20. The Final Battle Part 3

**Chapter 21**

**The Final Battle Pt. 3**

Sapphire smirked, "Not so fast." The other Insurgents stepped up and got in fighting positions, serious, calm, and focused looks on their faces behind their visors.  
Slowly, cyan returned to Sapphire's armor, white staying in certain spots. She looked up at the oncoming robots. 

"On my go."

Niko nodded and prepared himself and summoned a bishop, a knight, and the queen. 

"Niko." the Bishop said looking at Sapphire and the others. "Are you sure you want us to help you?" 

"Why do you ask?" Niko replied. 

"It just doesn't seem fitting you ask us to do this." the knight said finishing the bishop's answer. 

"If you wish not to help," Niko said. "You don't have to." 

With this, the pieces left back into Niko's watch. He sighed and looked at Sapphire. 

"When this is all over, I know you'll have to disappear for a while." Niko said. "So, while we're still together, let's cherish this moment we spend fighting the director and his forces!"

Carolina nodded, visor shining brightly. He looked ahead at the oncoming bots intently. The Insurgents looked anxious, but she wasn't ready to let them go. 

"Wait for it...," she added more firmly.

Niko nodded at this and prepped himself for what will probably be the last time he ever saw Sapphire and the other Insurgents. They've been there helping him out with his problem and he made their lives hell...but he knew now that this was the only chance he'll ever get to show he's not the weak sensitive kid they met five months ago. He was stronger and wiser. He was ready for this. He remembered what Skye told him the day he left. "Protect Miss Sapphire". Niko and Skye both knew Sapphire was capable of taking care of herself, but Niko knew what his little brother meant. Make every moment count because it could be the last. He looked at Sapphire and saw the determination in her eyes. _Protect her?_ Niko thought. _I'll do better!_ _I'll stick by her until this is all over!_

Sapphire narrowed her eyes as a bot ran specifically at her and Niko. No surprise there. She withdrew her magnum and shot. But, with her shot, she announced clearly in her leader voice:

"Now."

The Insurgent sprawled out, most going first to their firearm, others going into hand-to-hand. They moved appropriately and swiftly, flanking left as needed and covering more ground. She knew she and Niko would have to cover more left ground, so that's where she moved. She shot her magnum a few times before elbowing a bot and kicking the kneecap of another.

Niko runs in like a demon, taking every enemy he can down. Ironically, he is a demon. But if one were to get to know him, they wouldn't have figured it out! Niko was everywhere the enemy was leaping off walls taking heads of ripping whole bodies apart.

"If this is the day we all perish!" Niko exclaimed. "Let it be told we died for what was right! But until the moment we draw our last breath, let's make these guys do it first!" Niko laughed insanely and continued taking out enemies.

Sapphire smirked at Niko's words, knowing them to ring true at every angle. She shot a few more times before tossing her weapon aside and going into hand-to-hand. As she did, she noticed the other Insurgents following suit. Soon, the number of Allison clones had gone down immensely, but there were still some that remained.

Niko looked around. He's starting to get tired and beginning to lose strength. He looks at the remaining Allison clones and falls to his knees. "Dammit!" Niko said "I'm out of energy...I can barely move..." With this Niko falls to the ground.

Sapphire flicked her head to Niko, almost being hit by a clone. Dozens upon dozens were targeting Niko upon seeing how weak he was getting. Thinking quickly, she dashed for her magnum and picked them off. However, three still remained. Springing up, she dashed in front of her friend and began and outright assault. She silently thanked herself for training so hard, or she would have run out of energy, like Niko.

Niko looked up at his friend and smiled. He was lucky after all that time she was training never spending a day with him after they started working with the Insurgents was paying off. He secretly wished he would've trained harder but he knew that he had to keep trying. As he got up, he saw a sniper about to take aim at Sapphire. "Sapphire!" Niko shouted, grabbing her, pulling her down and taking the bullet. Niko looked at her and smiled. "Déjà vu, huh?" Niko said jokingly "I took one for ya once before, Sapph...now I took one for you again. Seems like its fate…or history repeating itself...heh heh" Niko falls to his knees. Why it is this time, he felt cold...like death was waiting for him? Maybe it was. However, Niko wasn't ready to give up. Suddenly Niko's body began to reshape into a thirteen-tailed fox-wolf with blood red eyes and jet-black fur. Picking sapphire up with a tail, he put her on his back and nods. Sapphire realized that Niko wants her to use him like a battle tank because he sensed she was out of ammo.

"Knew this would happen," Sapphire muttered, throwing her magnum to the side. "Finish up the remaining loose clones, we'll get the last boxes!" she called out to the Insurgents who instantly obliged.

"Alright, Niko, fire at those crates," she ordered, voice firm.

Niko nods and gives a sinister grin and fires at the crates and looks at Sapphire with a look of approval. "What now?" Niko said in a gruff voice. Sapphire was taken aback by Niko's voice, having expected him to only growl, howl, or roar. However, she quickly gave out her next order.

Sapphire shook her head. "There's nothing you can do." She slid slowly off Niko's back as she noticed doorways appearing and more and more Allison clones flooding in. He kept trying so hard...

She sighed and looked down. "Niko, I need to do something. I need to put her to rest." Taking a deep breath, she ran to one of the Allison clones and caught her fist as it swung. She clamped her eyes shut and thought extremely hard, trying to channel her Psi powers.

Suddenly, the real world was frozen.

**Awesome three-part chapter huh?! Next chappie I'll get down to what happened! See ya then!**


	21. Laid to Rest

**Chapter 22**

**Laid to Rest**

Niko jumped at this and tilted his head. What did she mean by "put her to rest"? It dawned on him that she meant Allison. But wouldn't that take her powers away? he thought. Why was she doing this? What was going on? Too many question but no answers was something that never flew well with Niko and he was gonna say something but then time froze around him.

"Whoa!" Niko said having been scared so badly he almost flew out of his fur. "S-Sapphire? What did you do?"

Somehow he figured she must've froze time but why was he the only one unaffected by this?

Not only did the world not freeze for Niko, but he was also warped into a small, rectangular shaped black room that had blue energy pulsing within the walls and a glass floor. They were in the memory unit. They were in the last piece of Allison's mind.

On one side of the room stood Sapphire and Niko, and on the other side was Allison in her armor. No one was able to move, but there was speech.

"Hello," Sapphire started as she looked ahead, breathing gently.

"Who... Who are you?" Allison asked in between yawns. Her voice sounded tired, and truly weak.

"You... Don't recognize us?"

"Oh, I'm... I'm sorry. I'm just, uh, really... Tired. My name's, uh..."

"You're Allison," Sapphire reminded, sadness leaking into her voice slightly.

"Right, uh, Allison. That's me. And you guys are..?"

"... Let's just say, we were close," Sapphire replied after a moment, not wanting to face the reality that Allison was slipping away.

"Oh... Ok."

For once, Sapphire felt like she needed to cry. She swallowed her tears and tried not to choke on them. "I need you to rest now, Allison."

"Heh, rest... I'd like that."

Sapphire closed her eyes, only to open them again quickly. "I thought you might." She looked to Niko, then back to Allison. "Look, we have to go now. You just rest, ok?" Her sadness now leaked heavily into her voice, and it was obvious she was severely holding back tears. "... Goodbye."

"Weird, I don't know why, but I hate goodbyes," Allison replied, blinking behind her helmet, growing more and more tired by the second.

"I know why..." Sapphire sighed in grief.

"Goodbye."

With a flash of bright light, Niko and Sapphire returned to the normal world. Slowly, the Allison clones deactivated and fell to the ground.

That was it. Allison was finally at rest, at peace.

She was gone.


	22. No More Sorrow

**Chapter 23**

**No More Sorrow**

**Here's the last of the 4 chapters of this two part saga. Notice how the last chapter was named Laid to Rest? That's actually the name of a song by Linkin Park of the same name. No More Sorrow, the name of **_**this **_** chapter is also the name of a Linkin Park song! Check out both of these songs when you get the chance! Anyway, here's the chapter! Enjoy!**

Niko looked around at the scene that had been created by the deactivation of the Allison clones. He never realized that Allison's power was powering all of the clones. He turned to Sapphire who was tearing up, walked over to her and hugged her.

"Sapph?" Niko began. "It must've hurt to see what you saw and never be able to see it again. I for one know the feeling. Allison lives on in you…use her powers the way she would've wanted you to use them. For the right reasons. You have to be strong for her, for your teammates, for me…don't let this be where it ends for your strength. Use this sadness as a power to stop the Director!"

Sapphire blinked back the tears in her eyes and slowly nodded. "You're... You're right. She was so tired Niko, so far gone. She didn't even know us..." She swallowed and hugged her friend back before quickly letting go and pulling away.

"What's next is something Niko and I have to do alone," she announced to the Insurgents, who nodded in sure understanding. "Come on," Sapphire told Niko as she walked to the door, once again hardened. She kicked a fallen android out of her way as she made her way.

Niko smiled at her and sighed.  
"There's the Sapphire I know!" He said and ran after her. "Let's end the Director!"

Sapphire didn't reply, but stopped walked outside of an open doorway, listening inside, catching Niko's wrist to stop him, too. "Play it again, F.I.L.S.S.," she heard the Director say, his southern accent peaking through more than ever.

"Playing playback."

She closed her eyes as she listened to the video that was being played.

"Come on, put that thing down," she heard Allison say in the video. "I'm going to be late."

Sapphire sighed and looked to Niko, as if asking if he was ready to take on the Director himself. Though, she wasn't quite sure of herself anymore. Was she really going to kill him?

Niko noticed her hesitation.

"Sapphire." Niko said. "We've gotta end this…he's gone too far and abused Allison's memory! We have to rid the world of his presence…as much as it hurts you and how much you don't want to, you know I'm right."

Niko took his partner's shoulder and kissed her on the lips. When he pulled back, he looked at her and nodded.

"That's my promise to you." Niko said. "My promise that I'll be with you through this and anything else you go through. We are a team, Sapph you never have to do anything alone. You're my power…lemme be yours."

She said nothing, but Sapphire nodded and pushed her helmet back on. She quietly stepped in to the room, and the Director quickly noticed her presence.

"Hello, Agent Sapphire. Care to watch this video with me?"

Sapphire cleared her throat and made her steps regular. What was the point? He knew she was there. "No, sir."

"As you wish. Now, play it again, FILSS."

"Director, are you sure-"

He slammed his fist on his desk. "I said, play it again."

"Repeating playback."

Niko walked in calmly.

"It's over Director." Niko said. "Your time of fucking with people and the things they hold dear is over. Allison's memory is better served with someone who'll actually use it right! That's Sapphire! So now it's time for you to pay for what you've done! Are you gonna go down quietly? Or is this gonna get loud?

"Glad of you to join us, Niko," the Director replied just as calmly as Niko entered, refusing to answer the question. "I'm assuming you're both here to kill me."

"You'd be right," Sapphire nodded without hesitance, but that was all she said.

"I... I just need more time. More time to get her right."

"You had your time!" Niko shouted with fury. She'd seen Niko furious, but never furious and passionate about what he was furious about.

"He's right," Sapphire told the Director. "... So this is what you've become."

"I just need to watch this. I think I have a way to bring her back right this time."

"The authorities will be looking for you soon, you know," Sapphire continued. "If I can find you, so can they."

"I... I just need more... More time," the Director sighed as he looked down.

Niko stared at the Director angrily. He was trying too hard to gain soomething he'll never get back and he hurt people along the way. Niko began to glow a bright red but he looked at sapphire and his fur went back to the soft blonde it was before. Niko knew he had to keep a cool head for a while...didn't need to have the authorities arresting him too. Niko sighed and looked at the Director.

"no matter how many times you look at that video," Niko began. "you won't be able to bring her back! You're messing with forces beyond control and you're hurting people with your actions! You've not only broken several laws, but you've broken several laws pertaining to the bounds of light and dark magic! You're delving into forbidden dark magic by using science as an entry point and the gods are getting pissed! You gotta stop before they bring the wrath down!"

Sapphire had no idea what Niko was saying but the severity in his voice told her that she needed to agreed with him, regardless of whether or not she understood.

Sapphire looked down and sighed silently as she walked up next to the Director. She knew what Niko was basically saying; he was saying that the Director needed to pay. In the end, that's what they had come there to do, anyways, wasn't it.

"They're waiting for me. Come on, don't make me hurt you." Sapphire winced at the words from the video. She looked to the Director and took her helmet off, moving it carefully to her side. She looked down at the Director, first with anger, then sadness.

The Director took off his glasses slowly and looked up at the sapphire-furred cat. And for the longest time, pure sapphire blue mirrored sapphire blue.

"And don't worry, you'll see me again."

The Director blinked, and for once, the pain he had gone through could be seen in his face and eyes. He was wrinkled and old, and it finally showed to Sapphire.

At first, she didn't know how to feel. She decided to do something first:

Remember.

The pain he had put her through, the Insurgents through, Allison through, Niko through.

Hate.

Her eyes grew hard and angry, and she frowned furiously. This man was cruel, and she hated him. He had done so many bad deeds in his lifetime, ones that caused pain beyond repair.

Resent.

Her lips loosened only slightly as she looked toward the ground, now slightly conflicted. The hatred had come in the heat of the moment, but her resent was what she really felt. She was angry, but did she really hate the man?

Pity.

The corners of Sapphire's mouth tightened up as she pointed her nose up at the Director, finding the nerve to look back up at him. He was a poor man, one below her that she felt deserved her pity, but nothing more. She felt sorry for him, but she was still all the better. He was still a bad man.

Acceptance.

Her hard eyes finally grew soft, and she let her features look genuinely sad before correcting them to look neutral. He was a bad man, but we all had lost something near and dear to our hearts. He just wanted it back more than any of us ever have. He loved her, and he tried, but he failed. He was so blinded and in so much pain, she felt she had to accept it. It was understandable, and it made sense.

Forgiveness.

Everyone made mistakes, and so did the Director. He had broken laws and done unspeakable things, but everyone deserved forgiveness, even him. He was in so much pain, too, so sad and lost. She would be cruel to not forgive him, raise her gun, and finish him. Sapphire leaned down and gently kissed the Director on the forehead as she tried to drone out whatever Allison was talking about then.

"Just a bit more time," the Director pleaded, though Sapphire knew that he knew he was out of time. He was gone, just like Allison was.

"Come on, Niko, we're leaving," she told him, turning slightly to face him.

Niko nodded and left. He saw the sadness in her eyes as they walked out the building itself and around them news crews who came, apparently drawn to the noise of the battle. Not entirely sure how they got there, Niko shrugged off all question with the time honored answer, "no comment and helped Sapphire and the others back to the base by giving them a ride on his back after transforming into his demon fox form and helping lifting them on his back. Once back at the base, he looked at Sapphire and planted a kiss on her quivering lips and hugged her.

"You did the right thing, Sapphire." Niko said after pulling back. "You were brave in there and if he lived he would've hurt more people. Please don't feel sad."


	23. My December (Niko's Epilogue)

**Niko's Epilogue**

**My December**

To Mom,

After all that transpired, I've gotta say it was all worth it. Well as it turns out, Sapphire had to go into hiding for a while so all that happened could blow over. It was sad seeing her go but I knew she'd come back. As I sit in this room and write this to you, my mind flies through all the memories we had before those fated eight months. My first kiss with her, how she saved my life many times, how I fell in love with her, and other stuff. The people who I met they were given a different assignment…I think. I never heard from Garnet again, nor the others who fought with me and Sapphire that day. Sapphire said in her letters that they're happy that nothing bad'll come from the Director's actions. Hope she's comes home soon. I've got everything planned out for when she returns. I just wish she didn't have to disappear. She only wrote me one letter and that was because I wrote her twenty time prior asking her to at least tell if she's okay. I guess I worry about her too much. I can't help it though! I love her and I can't wait to see her come home so I can ask her to marry me again…last time I didn't know if she even wanted me to even ask. I knew her for so long I felt if we never saw each other again at least I would've tried. Anyway, my friends are waiting for me. I hope you get this letter and reply back.

With Love

Niko


End file.
